Lucifer Deux
by JasonMorganfan87
Summary: The Lucifer tormenting humanity and the Winchesters wasn't the true Devil. He was simply a terrible creation of the real thing. After many years, the real Lucifer finally gets wind that the abomination he created and locked away is on the lose. Will he succeed in putting a stop to him? And how will the Winchesters react to a not quite evil Devil?
1. Chapter 1

**Lucifer Deux**

 **A/N: This story takes place at the end of season one in 'Lucifer' and the beginning of season 13 in 'Supernatural'. The story completely disregards the last two seasons of 'Lucifer', as I have yet to see those seasons. Also, in order to fit this story, in 'Lucifer', Lucifer left Hell a few years earlier. He would've come to Earth just before Dean went to Hell.**

Lucifer was down at the bar pouring himself a drink. The club would be opening soon and he needed to get a head start.

"Lucifer," came the voice of Lucifer's brother Amenadiel.

Lucifer rolled his eyes before turning to his older brother. The two of them had declared a sort of cease fire lately, but that didn't mean the angelic smug bastard didn't still annoy him. "Brother. It's so like you to show up just as I'm about to open. After all, it wouldn't be a good night for you unless you ruined mine."

"Luci, we have much to discuss," Amenadiel said seriously.

"I see," Lucifer said before taking a sip of his drink. "I can only guess this has to do with the escape of our dear mother."

"No, it has nothing to do with her," he said.

"Then I can't fathom what you think we'd need to discuss. You can't possibly be resuming your plan to persuade me to return to Hell," Lucifer said.

"No. Look, I hadn't planned to involve you in this. I didn't think the others would take it well. But things are getting worse, not better, and it is your mess to clean up," Amenadiel said.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow. "While the suspense certainly excites me, perhaps you ought to be less cryptic. What mess have a apparently caused?"

"Your little Frankenstein creation."

Lucifer scowled at his older brother when he realized what his brother was referring to. The creation Amenadiel spoke of hadn't been one of his better moments. Well, it had, but it hadn't. It freed him of a darkness that even he would agree was too much, but it also robbed him of a great deal of his power and posed a potential danger. "I'll thank you not bring _that_ up again."

"I'd love to oblige, but it's escaped, again," Amenadiel said.

Lucifer's face darkened considerably. He wasn't sure what disturbed him more. His brother's declaration that the abomination he created had escaped, or that it had apparently happened once before. "What do you mean, again?"

"You didn't know about the first time?" Amenadiel said surprised.

"I don't know about any time. Speak!" Lucifer demanded loudly. This was bloody serious. It might even be more serious than his mother escaping from Hell.

"Well, your history got a bit skewered over the years," Amenadiel started.

"Oh, that much I know. Apparently, most demons were under the impression that the cage I created for that being was actually designed by Dad to hold me. I'll admit, it was quite entertaining to hear those rumors," Lucifer said. Only a few demons knew the truth. Maze, and maybe a handful of others.

"Demons weren't the only ones. Most angels also believed it, including Michael," Amenadiel said. Michael was his twin, and a bit more impulsive, as well as just plain stupid sometimes. Hence, he'd fallen for the rumors that their father had apparently locked Lucifer in a cage.

"Yes, well, Michael has always been idiotic. Get to the part where it escapes. That shouldn't be possible," Lucifer said. He'd been very thorough when he'd locked that bloody bastard up. There were many hoops that had to be jumped through in order to get that thing out.

"You know the prophesy about you and Michael fighting?" Amenadiel asked.

Lucifer snorted. "As though there needed to be a prophesy on that. I could never stand the wanker. It's obvious we'd fight."

"Anyway, Michael wanted to hurry it along. He wanted the fight to happen and create paradise. I tried to tell him he was picking a fight with the wrong person, but he wouldn't hear it," he explained.

"I go back to the bastard being idiotic. You're saying Michael got it released?" Lucifer asked with more than a bit of anger in his voice. If he ever got his hands on Michael, he'd punish the little idiot.

"He had help, but, yes. Before you even go there, Michael has already suffered for what he's done. He still is. Hunters got involved. They locked your creation back up, with Michael along for the ride," Amenadiel told him.

Lucifer laughed loudly. "Really. Michael's trapped in my cage. That's just bloody awesome. However, there is obviously more to this story or you wouldn't be telling it. And where was Dad when all this was happening?" He asked before pouring another drink and taking a sip.

Amenadiel sighed. "I don't know. He hasn't been to Heaven since your fall."

Lucifer sprayed the bar with the contents of his mouth. "What?!"

"I didn't want you to know. That's why I wanted to get you back to Hell. I feared what his reaction was going to be."

"This is just great. The bastard just took off?" Lucifer asked in shock.

Amenadiel nodded. "Anyway, things went down a couple of years ago. I'll spare you the details, but the thing was released again a couple of years ago."

"A couple of years. It has been out for years and you're just telling me?!" Lucifer asked angrily. They were all lucky the world was still standing. That thing was the worst of him. There was no telling what he planned to do.

"I told you, I thought it was better that you not be involved. Plus, I was convinced you knew the first time, and you didn't lift a finger to help. I didn't think you'd care," Amenadiel said.

"What could possibly lead you to believe that?! I locked the bloody bastard up, tightly! You thought I did that because I didn't care?" Lucifer asked in disbelief

"Does it even matter? We need to deal with this now. It'll only get worse, and it's already very bad. There's a lot more to tell, but we can discuss it later. You need to get ready to leave," he said.

"How much damage has it done?" Lucifer asked. He was going. He had no choice. Amenadiel was right, this was his mess. He needed to put an end to it.

"A lot. Lucifer, there's one more thing I think I should tell you now. I was debating it, but call it a motivator. It may have killed Gabriel," Amenadiel said.

If Lucifer seemed angry before, he was positively bloodthirsty now. If there was just one being in all the world that mattered to him, even more so than the lovely detective he'd become attached to, it was his baby brother, Gabriel. Gabriel may technically have been created by his father, but he would always, _always_ be Lucifer's. There would be no helping anyone who hurt him. "What do you mean 'may have'. Is Gabriel dead?"

"He's said to be, but I'm not sure. Gabriel is good at tricking people. He might be alive," Amenadiel said.

"He'd better be," Lucifer said with the slightest twinge of pain laced in his voice. "I'll be ready soon. I'll call for you."

Amenadiel nodded and left.


	2. Chapter 2

Lucifer was in the process of getting ready to leave when the elevator to his pent house rang and opened. He looked up in time to see Chloe Decker walk in. "Detective, I wasn't expecting you."

"Really?" Chloe asked she walked over. "You left me a message saying you'd be unavailable to work cases with me for the foreseeable future, and you didn't think I'd drop by?"

"Are you worried about me, Detective?" Lucifer asked.

"Yes. Your message was cryptic and very concerning. What's going on?" Chloe asked.

"There's nothing to worry about. I just have to take care of a problem. I'll be back once it's finished," Lucifer said.

That didn't make Chloe feel any better. In fact, it made it worse. Lucifer tended not to follow the law when he went off by himself. Actually, he didn't really follow it when he was with her either. But when he was alone, he tended to fall off the rails to exact 'punishment'. "What kind of problem."

"Oh, this thing I created has just reared its ugly head. I have to take care of it before it gets any further out of control," Lucifer said.

"Who are you going after?" Chloe asked.

"What makes you think it's a person?" Lucifer asked.

"The look in your eyes. It's how you always look when you're ready to punish someone. Though I haven't seen it quite like this since the death of that preacher," Chloe said.

"It's not a person. Any being with Evil like that cannot be considered a person," Lucifer said.

"What kind of evil. What did he do to you?"

"It doesn't really matter what its done. I must stop it," Lucifer said.

"I really don't think you should do this. I can see how angry you are. If you go out there to exact some kind of revenge, no one will be there to hold you back," she said.

"With all do respect, Detective, not even you could hold me back this time if you were there. The abomination may have murdered my brother. Nothing will stop me from punishing it," Lucifer said strongly.

"Amenadiel's dead?" Chloe asked in shock.

"No, another brother of mine, one I was much more fond of. And if he's dead, the thing responsible will pay," Lucifer said tightly. It wasn't even just that Gabriel might be dead, though that alone shook him. It was that if Gabriel was dead, he'd likely died thinking Lucifer killed him. Lucifer wasn't just going to kill the thing he created for that. He was going to destroy him first.

"I'm sorry, but there are other ways to go about getting justice," Chloe said.

"Not this time, Detective."

Just then, the elevator opened once more and Mazikeen stepped through.

"Maze, good you're here. We have much to discuss," Lucifer said before turning back to Chloe. "I shall see you soon, Detective."

"I hope it's not from a prison cell," Chloe said before walking to the elevator.

"What the hell is she talking about?" Maze asked once the detective was gone.

"Don't worry, this won't involve prison cells, though that might be more pleasant. We're going on a, pardon the term, hunt," Lucifer said.

"I'll forget you just compared us to hunters. What exactly is going on?" Maze asked.

Lucifer quickly filled her in on everything Amenadiel told him.

"Are you kidding me? That freak managed to escape your cage?"

"Twice, apparently."

"And you wanna go after it. It's more powerful than you are, since you poured your Grace into it. Talk about a stupid move," Maze told him with a glared. She'd warned Lucifer even as he'd done it. She'd told him this could come back to bite him.

"That Grace had been corrupted by the bloody Mark of Cain. I had to remove it from my person before my Grace was a hundred percent corrupted, or I would've been that bastard instead," Lucifer told her.

"And this is better? He's out there and you won't be able to stop him. He's stronger than you," Maze said.

"Ah, but I have a secret weapon," Lucifer said before going over to a locked drawer by the bed. He opened it and took a small sword. "An archangel's best friend."

"Your archangel blade. I thought you got rid of that."

"What ever would make you think that?" Lucifer asked as though it was ridiculous.

"Maybe because you made me cut off your wings because God created them. Well, he created that too," Maze pointed out.

"This is different. I knew I would need this again one day. I will use it to end the specimen who has taken my name. Unless of course it killed my brother. Then I will use it to maim him first," Lucifer said.

"Are you ready," A new voice.

Lucifer looked over to see Amenadiel. "A little pushy, aren't you? Though, I was about to call you anyway, so it's fine."

"I assume you're joining us, Maze," Amenadiel said.

"He might end up getting himself killed otherwise," Maze said.

"What's our itinerary, brother?" Lucifer asked.

"There are a couple of hunters who have been actively involved in everything that has been going with whom they believe to be you. I suggest going to them first," Amenadiel said. He wasn't exactly happy about this course of action. The Winchesters didn't have a reputation of being the most inviting to angels, plus, a lot of this was their fault, so he wasn't that inclined to trust them. But they were their best bet at the moment.

"Great," Maze said sarcastically. There wasn't much she hated more than hunters. They were just a bunch of pathetic humans interfering in things they knew nothing about.

Lucifer, on the other hand, smiled like a child on Christmas morning. "I get to screw with hunters? Delightful! What are we waiting for?"

"Are you positive your mortality is only affected by Chloe Decker?" Amenadiel asked.

"Quite. Maze and I have tested the theory many times."

"Good. Like I said, these hunters believe they are trying to stop you. They won't take well to your presence. Plus, you are the Devil, so even if they didn't think they knew you, they'd probably shoot you just on principal," Amenadiel said.

"That won't be a problem. Shall we," Lucifer asked before grabbing his things.

Amenadiel touched them both and flew away.


	3. Chapter 3

Lucifer found himself in a very large, old looking old building. It looked like a large library. 'Why are we in a library?"

"We're not. This is a small part of a Men of Letters bunker. The hunters we're here to see, the Winchesters, are also legacies of the Men of Letters." Amenadiel explained.

"Huh. Many of those wankers have reservation on the rack," Lucifer noted. Those bloody bastards claimed to be fighting the supernatural, but in truth, most of them were just murderers who used the supernatural to pretend they were something different.

"The Winchesters recently sent a bunch of them there actually," Amenadiel commented.,"

"The Winchester's, huh? They were getting famous even before we left Hell. I heard a whisper or two of them from other demons," Maze said.

"If only you'd heard more. It might have saved everyone a lot of trouble. The Winchesters were said to be the vessels of the apocalypse. Specifically, the younger one was supposed to be yours, Luci," Amenadiel said.

"I'm good with this one, thank you," Lucifer stated.

"Yeah, why would there need to be specific vessels? Can't you guys take however you want?" Maze asked.

"No, not exactly. A regular angel can take whoever he wants as long as he has protection, but archangels are different. Our Grace can destroy a human body, unless it's our true vessel or a vessel of the same bloodline. Of course, Lucifer's different because he removed half his Grace," Amenadiel said.

"Yes, well, sometimes humans need to cut limbs off to survive. This is no different. You do what you must," Lucifer said before picking up a book that was left on the table. "Why are these hunters reading about Nephilims?"

Amenadiel sighed. "Those details I said I'd spare you? Well, since the hunters aren't here right now, perhaps I should fill you in on them."

"Where are they anyway? Why didn't you just take us right to them?" Maze asked.

"I can't find them. They both have angel sigils that keep them hidden from us. I could only take us to their location. Actually, I'm mildly surprised I was even able to do that. Well, I'm surprised I was able to get you in anyway, Maze. This place is heavily warded. Archangels could get in, but I didn't think a demon would be able to without them letting you in," Amenadiel said.

"There wards probably refer to those brutalized soul creations. They don't apply to me," Maze said with a smug look. There were two kinds of demons. There were those that were tortured in Hell until they were corrupted and there were those like here. Demons that existed long before humanity did. Humans hunters knew little to nothing about them because they rarely bothered with humans. As such, they wouldn't know how to ward against something like Maze.

"About those details, brother," Lucifer interrupted before heading to the door. "Fill me in while I search for a bottle of scotch."

Amenadiel and Maze quickly followed Lucifer out of the library.

It took Lucifer about ten minutes of searching every room he came across before he found the kitchen. "Ah, there must be liquor in here. Go on, Amenadiel. Fill us in."

"Well, there's a lot to fill in. The apocalypse had angels hyped up for a long time. When it failed, there was a lot of chaos, especially since Michael was gone."

"I presume that is when you took charge," Lucifer said before opening the refrigerator. He promptly closed it when he saw what was there. "Ugh! No, I don't do beer."

Amenadiel sighed. "Luci, you know I never wanted to be in charge. I would do what I was asked, but that's as far as I ever wanted to take it. So I stepped aside and let Raphael take the reins."

Lucifer stopped what he was doing and looked at his brother like he lost his mind. "Are you mad? Raphael is a cold bastard. He'd be nothing but a bloody dictator. He shouldn't be in charge of anything."

"I know. Things went crazy. Raphael wanted nothing more than to put the apocalypse back on the table. But there was another group of angels who decided to fight him for control," Amenadiel said.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow. "Civil war in Heaven?"

"Basically. Many were killed, including Raphael," Amenadiel explained sadly. He had a lot of guilt for what happened. If he had just sucked it up and taken control, none of it would've happened.

"How many?" Lucifer asked gravely.

"Hundreds."

"I need a drink," Lucifer said before rummaging through the cupboards.

"You'd think that would be the worst of it, but it wasn't. A lot more happened. One event lead to another until it eventually led to where we are now," Amenadiel said.

Lucifer pulled out a bottle of vodka. "Cheap vodka. I suppose it will have to do.

"One of those events was the Mark being transferred to one of the Winchesters, and them releasing Amara," Amenadiel continued.

Lucifer's eyes went wide. "Are you bloody kidding me. Dad's psychotic sister is running around?"

"Sort of. Some kind of cease fire was called between here and Father and he ran off with her," Amenadiel said bitterly. It bothered him to know that his father was willing to reveal himself and go off with Amara, but didn't even bother dropping by to see his children.

"Is there anything else, brother?" Lucifer asked irritably before pouring aa brink and taking a large sip.

"Yes, a lot. Amara's release is why it was also released. A naïve seraph thought he could use it to stop her. Instead, he simply released another monster. Anyway, it came in contact with a human and… well, you know," Amenadial said.

"Had sex with her. Say the word, brother. That doesn't seem like the end of the world unless… Please tell me it wasn't stupid enough to do this without some protection?" Lucifer asked.

Amenadiel's silence was the only answer he needed to give.

"Bloody hell!" Lucifer cursed before finishing his drink and pouring another.

"This thing has a kid? How does it have a kid? It's not human and it's not an angel. It's not even really a demon. It's a stupid corrupted soul that was infused with even more corruption.

"In a human vessel, which makes it possible," Amenadiel told her.

"You know, I don't blame it for having sex. It is such a wonderful part of humanity, but it could at least have the sense to use protection," Lucifer said before downing his drink in one gulp.

"So what exactly is this kid?" Maze asked Amenadiel.

"I haven't met him, but others have, plus, I felt it when he was created. He felt like a Nephilim," he answered.

"Well, he's not. The thing that created him was not an angel," Lucifer protested.

"The boy has Grace, Luci. Yours, corrupted or not," Amenadiel said pointedly.

"What are you implying?" Lucifer asked with an edge to his voice.

Maze laughed. "I think he's implying you're a daddy."

Lucifer barely had time to glare at her before they all heard what sounded like a large door opening and closing.

"The Winchesters have returned," Amenadiel said before leading the way out the room. As they walked, they could hear voices.

"What's wrong, Cas?" one voice asked.

"There are people in the bunker. Angels and a demon."

"That's not possible. This place has every warding in existence up."

As disturbed as Lucifer was at what he'd just learned, he was not one to pass up an opportunity to get the jump on someone, let alone hunters. He quickly bypassed Maze and Amenadiel and made his way to the three voices. "Ah, you're back."

Both hunters immediately took out their guns and pointed them at the three intruders. Castiel just stared at them in shock.

"Who the hell are you? Are you drinking my vodka?" Dean asked the dark-haired guy in front of the others.

"Oh, yes, about that, you should really get some better alcohol. If you have a taste for vodka, at least have some class and buy a higher end brand," Lucifer said before taking a sip from the glass in his hand.

"Alright, I'm shooting this asshole!"

"It won't do you much good, but feel free," Lucifer said.

"Dean, don't," Castiel said as he continued to stare in shock. He was shocked by both angels that were there, but more so by the one with the British accent. He was someone he couldn't be. His Grace told Castiel who he was, but he couldn't be him.

"We're not here to hurt anyone. We just need your help in solving a problem. Actually, I think our goals are similar in this matter," Amenadiel said.

"I think I'll pass. I don't know who you are, but I know you're an angel. That's enough for me to not help you. Now how'd you assholes get in here? This place is protected," Dean said.

"Not from archangels," Amenadiel said.

"Archangels. We were told the archangels were all dead. Well, except for Michael and Lucifer," Sam said.

"Cas?" Dean asked.

"I never said they were dead, nor did I tell you the ones you met were all there were," Castiel said.

"You didn't mention any others either," Dean said irritably.

"Because Amenadiel was never a problem. He rallied against the apocalypse and stayed out of most other matters after it was over," Castiel explained.

"Which of them is Amenadiel?" Sam asked.

"I am," Amenadiel answered.

"He's one of the oldest archangels. He's Michael's twin," Castiel said.

"Is it really necessary to throw that in his face? I'm sure my dear brother is shamed enough by that fact," Lucifer said.

"What about this asshole? Who's he?" Dean asked with his gun trained at the brit. He'd hoped that he was the demon his angel friend had mentioned so he could kill the bastard, but he'd just called the other angel his brother. So the chick had to be the demon. He'd get to her when he had all the information.

"I don't know."

"Oh, come now, don't lie. I consider lying to be a sin. You know exactly who I am, Castiel," Lucifer said with a smirk before taking another sip of his drink.

"It's not possible. Your Grace isn't the same as his," Castiel said. He knew whose Grace he was sensing, but it couldn't be true. They felt too different.

"Firstly, the pronoun you're looking for is 'it' not 'him' or 'his'. It's not a person or even an angel. Let's not treat it like it is. Second, it's Grace, which is really mine by the way, is different because it's corrupted by pure evil," Lucifer said.

"I know that much," Castiel said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dean asked. The little patience he had was quickly dissipating.

"Cas, who is he?" Sam asked.

Castiel stared at the angel for a minute longer before replying. "I think he's Lucifer."


	4. Chapter 4

Dean looked at the guy Cas claimed was Lucifer in shock. It couldn't really be him, could it? He supposed Lucifer could have changed his vessel, though he wasn't sure why, but how'd he get out of the alternate universe if it really was him? "This is Lucifer?"

"At your service," Lucifer said with a smirk.

"How'd you get out of the alternate universe, and where is our mother? I swear if you hurt her, I'll kill you!" Dean growled.

Lucifer looked to his brother with a quizzical look. Apparently, there were things Amenadiel hadn't explained yet.

"The Nephilim accidently opened up a portal to another universe before he was born. _It_ got trapped inside," Amenadiel explained.

"Wait, it's locked up. What the hell are we doing here then? We can just let it be," Maze said.

"Oh, no. It needs to be punished for what its done," Lucifer said in a dangerous tone.

"Maze, it has already been locked up twice. It got out. We can't take the chance that it will again," Amenadiel said.

"What are you assholes talking about? Where is my mother?" Dean demanded to know.

"Dean, this being and the one in the alternate universe are not the same being," Castiel said.

"Cas, you just said he was Lucifer," Sam pointed out. Honestly though, this man did not seem like Lucifer. He was an ass, but just from the few minutes they'd been around him, he seemed different.

"I said I think he is. I can sense his Grace, and it feels like Lucifer, but he's not the one that we released from the Cage twice. He's not the one who sired Jack or got locked in the alternate universe," Castiel said.

"Why do you say that?" Dean asked.

"Well, for one, his Grace is depleted, by a lot. It's also not as dark. It isn't corrupted by the Mark of Cain. This is not the same archangel we've known. I would know. He spent months inside me," Castiel said.

"Then he can't be Lucifer," Dean said.

"I beg to differ. I am Lucifer. I am the Devil," Lucifer said with a proud smile.

Dean glared at him. "If you're not the asshole that we've known all this time, you're not the Devil. I'm not sure why you'd pretend to be."

Lucifer leveled the man with his own glare. "I don't pretend. I do not lie."

"We know all about Lucifer. Believe me, I was locked in the Cage with him for over a century. I've seen his real face," Sam said. He barely managed to contain a shudder as he spoke.

Lucifer looked at the hunter in shock. "You what? How are you still bloody sane? Or alive? I did not design that place to hold a human."

"You didn't design it at all. God did to lock the Devil up," Dean said.

"You know, that's the only part that ever bothered me. Dad got credit for my creation. That cage was created by me, not him. Then the rumors got out of hand until the outrageous story that Dad locked me into it. It was both annoying and entertaining at the same time," Lucifer said.

"What are you talking about? I know that it was God that made that cage," Castiel said.

"Do you? You were just a little fledgling at the time," Lucifer pointed out.

"Michael…"

"Michael's an idiot," Lucifer said before he started to walk away.

"Where the hell are you going?" Dean asked.

Lucifer turned back to them. "Well my glass is empty. I need to refill it in order to continue this conversation. Perhaps you all ought to join me. I think drinks would help all of us. In any event, put the guns down. Even if you did shoot me, it wouldn't do much."

Dean and Sam reluctantly put their guns away and followed… whoever he was and the other two.

Lucifer immediately went to the kitchen and to the bottle of vodka on the counter.

"Pour me one while you're at it," Maze said.

"You're replacing that before we kill you," Dean said with a glare.

"Happy to. I'll even provide you with a better brand. Honestly, you ought to choose you liquor better," Lucifer said before refilling his glass, pouring Maze one, and walking over to the table and sitting down. He handed Maze her drink on his way.

Maze sat next to her boss.

"So, where were we?" Lucifer asked.

"You were trying to convince us that everything we know about the Devil is wrong," Dean said. His tone conveyed that he wasn't buying it.

"Well, not all of it. I'm sure you've got that I rebelled. That much is true. Your theory on why is probably wrong, but you've got a sliver of the story right," Lucifer said.

"Fine. Enlighten us on what the true story is so I can get on with killing you and your demon friend," Dean said before pouring himself a drink.

Maze laughed. "You wouldn't even begin to know how to take me out, but I welcome your efforts."

"I've been doing this a long time, sweetheart. You'd be far from the first demon I've killed," Dean said smugly.

"You've killed ruined souls who call themselves demons. I doubt you've even seen one like me before," Maze said.

"Maze, I don't think now is the time," Lucifer said before addressing the others. "Now, I suppose I should start with how I rebelled and why."

"We know why _Lucifer_ rebelled. He wanted to destroy humanity and God wasn't up on that," Dean said.

"What led you to that conclusion. Humanity never bothered me one way or the other," Lucifer said.

"You're lying. This story has been engrained in me since I was a fledgling. You hated humanity. You used the apple to prove that humans weren't worthy of existing," Castiel said.

"No. I don't deny using the apple to tempt Eve, but it wasn't because I hated humanity. No, that was just a means to an end. I was trying to prove a point. Of course, Dad wasn't too happy when I made that point perfectly." Lucifer said.

"What point was that?" Sam asked.

"The existence of Free Will. That's what I wanted. I wanted to be able to get out from under my father's dictatorship. I wanted to show him and my siblings that there was something besides his law. I'd wanted to prove that for some time, and with the Mark of Cain, I finally had the balls to do it," Lucifer explained.

"You're lying," Castiel said.

"No, he's not. Castiel, whatever you may think of him, whatever I do, he doesn't lie, even. And I was there when he fell. I know what happened better than you do," Amenadiel said.

"Then why have we been taught for so long that it was different? And if we were being lied to, why didn't you relieve us of the lie?" Castiel asked.

"Most of the story was a result of the situation being jumbled up through bad rumors, but that part was fabricated by Michael. I think he believed he'd receive a better outcome for the apocalypse if you thought you were fighting someone who was trying to destroy God's creations. It was a much better fight than with a man who simply wanted to make his own choice. Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with what Luci did. I believe Father's word is law," Amenadiel said.

Lucifer rolled his eyes in response.

"But it wasn't as bad as Michael made it out to be," Amenadiel said.

"I'm not buying this. I know that bastard wanted the end of the world. He hated humans. He said that to me himself," Dean said.

"I said nothing of the sort because we've never met before today, and the thing you have met is not me. It is nothing more than something I created and locked away," Lucifer told him.

"And why would you do that? If you're telling the truth, why would you create something that could destroy the world? You claim that isn't what you wanted," Sam said.

"It wasn't my intention. I locked it up as soon as I created it. I knew how dangerous it would be. It was made up mostly of my Grace," Lucifer said before taking a sip of his drink.

"You're saying you cut out the majority of your Grace and put it into this being? Why would you do that? Castiel asked. He couldn't understand why any angel would deplete himself of his power, let alone use it to create something else.

Lucifer sighed. "Look, when I first began carrying the Mark of Cain, I considered it a blessing. It helped me stand against my father. But the Mark…"

"Skip this part. We know about the Mark," Dean said shortly.

"Yes, I heard one of you was stupid enough to bare it. I'm guessing you," Lucifer said. When all he got was a glare in response, he continued. "Anyway, the Mark was corrupting all of my being. I had to get rid of it without actually destroying. I transferred to Cain, but it wasn't enough. When it was given to me, it was infused in a piece of my Grace. That piece began infecting the rest of it. I had to remove it before all of me was infected. So, I cut it out and infused it with a semi-corrupted soul."

"You put it in a demon?" Sam asked in horror.

"No, it wasn't a demon yet. Dad only knows what it could do with demon powers as well as my Grace," Lucifer said before taking a sip of his drink.

"So, you're saying that the dude we've been fighting for years isn't the devil, but just a creation of the real devil?" Dean asked.

"Precisely," Lucifer said with a smile.

"I need another drink," Dean said before turning to the bottle of vodka still on the counter.

"Pour me one two?" Sam said. His mind was racing. How could everything they'd known about the Devil since the apocalypse started be a lie? Suddenly a startling thought hit him. "Wait, what about Jack? What does this make him?"

"Who is Jack?" Lucifer asked.

"The Nephilim. And from everything I've gathered, he is a Nephilim," Amenadiel said.

"He is not a Nephilim! That bloody thing that created him isn't an angel!" Lucifer said firmly.

"But you are. Face it, Luci. He's your son," Amenadiel said.

"How is that possible if he didn't sleep with Jack's mother?" Sam asked.

"Thank you. Listen to him, brother. He makes sense," Lucifer said before turning to Sam. "You're the smart one, aren't you?"

"Luci, this being is made up almost entirely of your Grace. And your Grace is what makes you who you are. The boy is yours," Amenadiel said.

"It is preposterous!" Lucifer yelled.

"This argument doesn't matter anyway. We'll be keeping Jack away from both of you," Dean said with a glare towards Lucifer. Even if this bastard was the real Lucifer, he was still evil. He was still the Devil. He'd created some being that was wreaking havoc on the world. Plus, Dean really didn't believe that whole Free Will story.

"Well, we still need to know what Jack is, Dean. We need to be able to tell Jack what he is when we find him," Sam said. Jack had disappeared a few days earlier after accidently taking a life. They'd been looking for him since.

"The boy isn't here?" Lucifer asked before smiling and standing up. "I will prove to you, brother, that the boy isn't mine. If he's mine, I should be able to sense him, even with depleted Grace. If I can't, he's not mine. After all, you can't sense him, can you?"

"No. I've tried since I learned he existed," Amenadiel said.

"You can really sense him? You can bring him back?" Sam asked Lucifer.

"Sam?" both Dean and Cas said at once.

"We need to find him somehow. If he can find him, we have to take any risks that would come with it," Sam said. He understood their worries, but Lucifer, if was Lucifer, was their best bet at finding Jack.

"No, I can't sense him because he's not mine. This is just to prove my brother wrong," Lucifer said.

"Ugh! Stop the denials and just look for the brat already," Maze said.

Lucifer closed his eyes and began concentrating. Mere minutes later, he opened his eyes and groaned. "Bloody hell."


	5. Chapter 5

Lucifer felt the boy the very second he tried. It wasn't even hard to find him. Lucifer hadn't been able to feel an angel that wasn't directly in front of him since he cut out his corrupted Grace. But he felt the boy from across the country. Amenadiel couldn't feel, but Lucifer could. That meant the boy was explicitly connected to him, connected to his Grace. He could almost convince himself that it was just because his creation sired the boy, but Lucifer could feel his Grace. It wasn't corrupted. It was pure, and much like his own before the mark was forced on him.

"You can feel him, can't you, brother?" Amenadiel asked.

"Can you? Where is he? Where is Jack?" Castiel demanded to know.

"Maryland," Lucifer said.

Maze laughed. "Well, should we go out for a drink and cigar to celebrate the new father.

Lucifer was too shocked, and also a bit horrified, to even react to Maze's mocking. The boy was his. He could feel it as he sensed the young Nephilim. It wasn't even just the fact that the kid had similar Grace or the fact that Lucifer could sense him from so far away. It was something Lucifer could just feel as his small amount of Grace reached the boy.

"Can you admit it now, Luci?" Amenadiel asked.

"Yes," Lucifer replied quietly. He could admit, but he wasn't happy. He'd never, ever planned to become a father, and not just because it was forbidden. He didn't do well with children. He didn't even like the limited contact he had with Chloe Decker's child. Now he was a father to a child he hadn't actually conceived himself. That just wasn't right.

"No, you're lying. You aren't Jack's father. You weren't even with his mother," Casitel said. Not even angels could have children without being with the child's mother first. Lucifer, if that was truly him, had to be lying.

Lucifer glared at the seraph. "What part of 'I do not lie' is hard for you grasp, brother? And if I was going to lie, why would I lie about this. I don't like children. Why in the world would I want my own? Plus, you just witnessed attempt an argument against being the kid's father. Use your brain."

"This is freaking crazy. Now people can have kids without having sex?" Dean asked.

"You've just read my mind," Lucifer said as he continued to try to wrap his head around it.

"Luci, we need to find the boy," Amenadiel said.

"No freaking way. You assholes aren't going anywhere near that kid!" Dean said.

Maze snorted. "I'd like to see stop them. Seriously, I'd like to see it."

"Would everybody shut it and let a chap come to terms with finding out he's father?" Lucifer asked annoyed.

"Lucifer, I know you're shocked, but we really need to get to this boy. Everything in the world is likely after him. The other angels certainly are," Amenadiel said.

Lucifer didn't want to go after the kid. He wanted to go back to LA and forget this ever happened, but he couldn't. He might not want to be a father, but he was one. He would not be like his own father was. He would not abandon his own child. "Yes, you're probably right."

Amenadiel turned to Maze. "Maze, you should stay here. I don't know how a Nephilim would react to a demon."

"Fine by me. I don't do family drama. But have a good reunion," Maze said with a smile. The last part was directed to Lucifer.

"Hey! I said none of you are getting near Jack!" Dean yelled.

"Dean," Castiel warned. While he didn't want them near Jack either, he did not think it was a good idea to provoke these people. Amenadiel was just as powerful as Michael, and Lucifer, depleted Grace or not, was not someone to anger.

Lucifer stood up and walked over to Dean. "Listen, I don't make a habit of harming humans who don't deserve it, but I'll make an exception if you continue to try my patience. Then again, you let two things out of their cages when they should've been left alone, so maybe you do deserve it."

"I let him out, not Dean," Castiel said.

Lucifer ignored his youngest brother. Well, actually he just stored the information away to use later, but he nevertheless disregarded Castiel for his human friend. "You may not like it, and I certainly don't, but I am Jack's father."

"That doesn't mean you should be around him," Sam said distrustfully.

"Perhaps not. There are certainly parents all around that shouldn't have been allowed to have them, and I have no doubt that I qualify. Nevertheless, the child is mine. Only I can locate him, and only I can teach him to use control the immense power he has in order to not use it to destroy all of creation. Oh, and there is also the fact that you can't stop me," Lucifer said.

"Wanna bet," Dean said before taking a step forward.

Sam grabbed his brother and held him back. "Don't."

"Right, let's get this over with," Lucifer said before going over to Amenadiel.

Amenadiel took ahold of his brother and disappeared with him.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Amenadiel appeared with Lucifer in the woods. He looked around and saw no one around. "Where is he?'

"Down this way. I didn't think it was best to appear directly in front of the boy. Riling up a Nephilim hardly seems like the best idea," Lucifer said.

Amenadiel nodded and followed his brother. "Are you alright?"

"Of course not! I have a bloody child! I don't like children," Lucifer said.

"Well, from what I've gathered, physically, he's a teenager," Amenadiel said.

"Worse," Lucifer said with a shudder.

"I don't get this thing against children with you anyway. You don't hate children. You practically raised our brother," Amenadiel said.

Lucifer stiffened at the mention of Gabriel. He'd been trying not to think about him as much as possible. In fact, that was the only upside to finding out he was a father. It allowed him to think of something besides the fact that his brother might dead. "That was different. It was before."

"Before you fell. That's it. It's not children that bother you, it's what comes with them," Amenadiel realized. Children came with emotions. You couldn't be around a child and not feel a plethora of emotions, and Lucifer had made a point not to deal with his feelings since he was exiled to Hell.

"Shut up and keep walking," Lucifer said. Just then, he heard a yell and a loud growl.

Both angels quickened their pace until the reached a young man being held to a tree by a vampire.

"Excuse me!" Lucifer called out. He waited until both beings turned to him before he continued. "Would you kindly take your hands off my offspring?"

"What? What the hell are…"

The vampire's words were cut off as Amenadiel snapped his fingers and destroyed the creature.

Jack, meanwhile, flinched at what he saw. The vampire he had been fighting exploded in blood.

Lucifer turned and glared at his brother. "Why did you do that? You could've let me fight for a few minutes. You're so bloody boring."

"Luci," Amenadiel said before gesturing to the shocked young man a few feet away, indicating that his brother should deal with his son.

"Right, I suppose," Lucifer said before approaching the young man. "Umm, hello there. Jack, yes?"

"You're angels, aren't you?" Jack asked before taking a step back. He knew enough about angels to know they were dangerous, and many times, they could hurt him enough to keep him from using his power. The noise they let out sometimes was terrible.

"Well, he is, and I suppose technically I am, but I don't like to see myself as such. No, I'm the Devil," Lucifer said proudly.

Jack's eyes widened. "You… You're Lucifer? You're my father."

"Yes, I suppose so. I just learned that fact actually," Lucifer said.

Jack stepped back again. "Stay away from me. Sam and Dean say you're evil."

"Yes, well, that was a case of mistaken identity. It's a long story. Perhaps we should discuss it over a drink. Oh, no, you're not legal. Judging from your appearance, you don't seem older than sixteen or seventeen, so that's out. A shame really. Things like this should be discussed over alcohol," Lucifer said.

"Lucifer," Amenadiel chided.

"What? I'm doing the best I can. Deep conversations aren't my specialty," Lucifer said to Amenadiel before turning back to Jack. "Okay, so the clip notes version is this. Yes, I am the Devil. Yes, I am technically your father. However, I am not the thing that bedded your mother, nor am I the thing the Winchester's informed you of."

"I don't understand." Jack said. He wasn't following anything this man was saying. He appeared to be rambling at first, and now he was saying things that made no sense to Jack at all. What did he mean he wasn't the man everyone knew? How was that possible?

"I don't think the clip notes version is going to do, Luci. Plus, we should get out of here before something worse than a vampire finds him," Amenadiel said. He could take on whatever came their way, but there was no need to wait for more danger to follow.

"Yes, alright. Perhaps this conversation should be had elsewhere."

"I'm not going with you," Jack said firmly.

If Jack were any other being, Amenadiel would probably have just grabbed him and forced him with them, but as a Nephilim, Jack was more powerful than almost any other being in the world. He didn't want to test the kid. "You don't have to. Our only intention was go back to the Winchesters. We'd just follow you."

"You know how to get to Sam, Dean, and Castiel?" Jack asked alarmed. If they could get to them, they might hurt them. He couldn't let his friends be hurt.

"Oh, yes, we just left them," Lucifer said.

"You better not have hurt them," Jack said before flying away.

Lucifer went back to Amenadiel and they followed.


	6. Chapter 6

Dean was pacing the bunker angrily. He couldn't believe they'd possibly just let the Devil go after Jack. Actually, correction, Sam and Cas let him go when Dean tried to stop him.

"Dean, stop pacing and calm down," Sam said.

Dean rounded on his brother and friend. "What the hell were you two thinking? How could you let him go after Jack?"

"We couldn't stop him, Dean. Neither could you. Trying was only going to get yourself hurt," Castiel said.

"We could've tried. You said his Grace was depleted. He said the same. That means he's weaker," Dean said.

"Weaker in terms of not being almost completely invulnerable, but he's still an archangel. It still wouldn't take him much to kill you. Not toe mention that Amenadiel's power is not depleted. He's the most powerful archangel currently around," Castiel said.

"So, we did nothing. Now the Devil, assuming that he actually is who he says he is, has Jack. He's gonna try to turn him and use him for his power!" Dean growled.

Maze laughed from her spot at the table. "Are you crazy? Lucifer doesn't care about power. He cut half of his out for crying out loud. If he could, he'd cut out every angelic piece of him, just like he did his wings."

Castiel gaped at the demon in shock and horror. "He cut off his wings?!"

"Well, I cut them off for him," Maze said.

"If he cut off his wings, he really can't care about power," Castiel said. So much power came from an angel's wings. He couldn't understand how Lucifer could have his wings cut off. Castiel had been lost since his wings were broken. It was how he'd been so vulnerable to allowing himself to be possessed. He'd wanted a purpose again.

"Well, then what the hell does this dude want? I don't believe he has no ulterior motives, and I really don't believe his story about Free Will," Dean said.

"I'm not sure that he does want anything as far as Jack's concerned. He wasn't happy to find out that Jack is his son," Sam said.

"Unless he's lying. Look, we know how evil he is," Dean said.

"Do we? We don't know anything about this guy. We can't even trust what Cas has told us because it turns out he may have been lied to," Sam said.

"Are you saying we should trust this dude?" Dean asked in disbelief. Was his brother crazy. This was the freaking Devil. At least that was what the bastard said. Dean still wasn't positive if he believed him.

"No. I'm saying that we don't know anything about him. We have to approach the situation differently. We can't assume we know his motives. It seems we may not even know the truth about his history," Sam said.

Dean couldn't deny that his brother had a point. No matter what his name was, they didn't know what this guy was all about. "Cas, do you think he was telling the truth?"

"About being Lucifer? His Grace says he's Lucifer, but so did the other one's. However, if Lucifer poured his Grace into this being, it would. I can't think of any other explanation for why two beings would seem so similar. I think it is likely he's telling the truth about that," Castiel said.

"And his history?" Sam asked.

"Everything I know about his history comes from what I've been taught. Lucifer and Amenadiel were right. I was no more than a child when Lucifer fell. I don't actually know what happened," Castiel said. He felt like everything he'd ever been taught was being called into question. The story of Lucifer's fall had been ingrained in every angel for thousands of years. It was difficult to accept that it all might have been a lie.

"Alright, well, I'm not about to believe that the Devil is good," Dean said.

"Good. He'd be pissed if you did. He's not good, but he's not evil either," Maze said.

"Why haven't I killed you yet?" Dean asked the demon.

"Because you can't," she answered with a smirk.

Just then, there was a flutter of wings. Jack appeared seconds later.

"Jack!" Sam exclaimed.

"Jack, are you alright?" Castiel asked as he approached the boy.

"Yes. I was worried about you all. I met my real father. He said he'd here," Jack said with concern in his voice.

"Yeah, but we're all fine," Sam assured him.

"For now. Alright, let's kill the demon and find a way to ward this place against archangels," Dean said. The words were barely out of his mouth before the two archangels appeared.

Maze laughed. "Well, that plan worked brilliantly, Winchester."

"Well, I see everyone is so pleased that we've returned," Lucifer said with a smirk.

"Get out. We don't need you anymore," Dean said with a glare.

"Yeah, I'm with him. It's been fun at all, but I don't think we really need idiot hunters to take out your creation. What can a couple of humans do?" Maze asked.

"We've taken care of the bastard before, sweetheart. What have you done about it?" Dean asked irritably.

"If you took care of it, it would be dead," Maze retorted.

"What's going on?" Jack asked.

"Quite a bit," Lucifer said before removing his suit jacket and draping it over the counter. "First, you ought to forget what you've been told about me."

"No, you shouldn't. Don't listen to him, kid," Dean told Jack.

"Ignore him. The situation's been explained to him, but he apparently can't understand proper English," Lucifer told Jack.

"Dean is a good person. He helps people. He says you're evil. That you hate humans and you want me to be like you. I won't! I won't be evil like you," Jack said firmly.

"Good for you," Lucifer said with a satisfied smile. His offspring wasn't half bad for a teenager. "I admire those who want to separate themselves from their parents. It's Free Will at its finest."

Jack frowned in confusion. "But I thought you wanted me to be like you, evil."

"First of all, I'm not evil. It's a common and irritating misconception that the term evil is interchangeable with the Devil. The Devil, as in me, refers to the ruler of Hell. The one who punishes those who deserve it once they've died. Well, I do punish the living now, but that usually involves jail cells, which is actually supposed to be considered good. But don't let that term get around. I don't like that anymore than evil," Lucifer said.

"So, you're saying you don't hurt people?" Jack asked.

"Well, I've roughed several up who deserve it, but I've never killed a human," Lucifer said.

"Yeah, like we're going to believe that. You're hurting a human right now be being inside him. If that dude's still sane, he's probably losing that sanity little by little watching everything you do," Dean said.

"He's not still sane, though his sanity was gone long before I met him. He was a paranoid schizophrenic. He was surrounded by voices when I met him. His only desire was quiet and rest, so I offered him a deal. He could sleep in the back of his mind if he allowed me to possess him," Lucifer explained.

"Yeah, right," Dean said skeptically.

"I don't lie," Lucifer said.

"Not even when he should. Sometimes his honestly is problematic," Amenadiel said before narrowing his eyes at his brother. "Like telling everyone you come across that you're the Devil."

"I am the Devil," Lucifer said.

"So you claim. I'm still not sure I buy it. I'm not just gonna start believing that the bastard we thought was the Devil wasn't the real thing," Dean said.

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked.

Lucifer sighed and quickly went through the story once more Jack would understand.

"So, there are two of you?" Jack asked. Even after hearing it all, he was still very confused.

"No, there's only one of me. I am one of a kind," Lucifer said.

"So, what about the other guy who says he's you? Who is he?" Jack asked.

"Not he, it. Let's not confuse it with a person. It's just an abominable creature I needed to create to free myself.

"You hear what he just said, Jack? He created it. If he's telling the truth, he's the one who unleashed this thing on the world," Dean said.

Lucifer approached the hunter. "I infused my Grace into it, yes, but that monster would've existed in one form or another even if I hadn't, curtesy of the Mark of Cain, which was forced on me by my father. So, in truth, he created the evil, didn't he?"

Dean was about to retort when suddenly something occurred to him. "Wait a second. I know you're lying. I can prove it. We've met God. So has the _real_ Lucifer. And guess what? God acknowledged the bastard as his son. Are you really gonna try to convince us that God couldn't tell the difference."

Lucifer laughed loudly. "No, of course he knew the difference. He just didn't care enough to enlighten you."

"Why would he keep it a secret?" Sam asked. He hadn't thought about Chuck before, but his brother made a good point.

"Because he's a bloody bastard," Lucifer said as if it explained everything.

"He has his own reasons for the things he does," Amenadiel said.

"He may not have seen any reason to inform us. You were fighting Amara, not Lucifer, or whatever he is," Castiel said.

"Whatever _it_ is," Lucifer corrected.

Castiel ignored the archangel's words. "There was no reason to tell us. Plus, he needed its help to stop Amara."

"So, you're saying Chuck played him? He went through all the trouble of apologizing just…"

"He what?!" Lucifer asked sharply.

"Oh, boy. You might have just poked the bear," Maze said with a smile.

"He apologized to it?! Are you bloody kidding me?!" Lucifer asked angrily.

"Luci…" Amenadiel started.

"No! The bastard is mocking me! How dare he apologize to that thing! I'm the one he wronged! Those words are meant for me!" Lucifer yelled. His eyes flashed red at his outburst.

Jack gasped at the sudden flash of red eyes and stepped back a bit.

Seeing the reaction in his son, Lucifer calmed himself down. "Sorry about that. My father provokes certain reactions, especially when he goes out of his way to piss me off."

Jack nodded, but remained leery.

"Okay, well if this is all true, I'm pretty sure this thing believes he's you," Sam said.

"It wouldn't surprise me. It's probably insane by now. It wouldn't surprise me if its become so distorted that it has convinced itself that it's me," Lucifer said.

Dean rubbed his eyes. "Alright, I'm done with this, at least for tonight." He needed sleep and to think about all this.

"Yes, I agree. We shall look at the situation in the morning with fresh eyes. So, if you'd be so kind as to just point us to a couple of rooms," Lucifer said.

"No freaking way! You assholes aren't staying here," Dean said firmly.

"Believe me, I'd rather not myself. I much prefer my penthouse, but since that option isn't available, I'll have to make do," Lucifer said.

"I said no. I'll banish you if I have to. We know how to get rid of angels," Dean said smugly.

Lucifer was in Dean's face in seconds and his eyes were almost blazing again. "You use that sigil and I will beat you to a bloody pulp! That thing works against anyone with Grace." He glanced over to Jack when he was finished.

"He's right. You can't, Dean," Castiel said.

"Fine," Dean said reluctantly before turning towards the demon. "But she goes. No demon is staying in my house!"

"Believe me, I wouldn't be caught dead. I'm sure there's a bar I can get drunk in and a motel I can stay in," Maze said. There was no danger to Lucifer if she left. These hunters had no power over him.

"Remain close, Mazikeen," Lucifer told her as she got up.

Maze nodded and headed out of the room


	7. Chapter 7

The next day, Sam was up bright and early, and drinking a cup of coffee in the kitchen. He hadn't really slept well the night before. How could he when the Devil was in the bunker and everything they knew about him turned out to be a lie.

Sam believed Lucifer. He had no reason to lie about that. Who in their right mind would lie about being the Devil. Plus, he'd spent half the night researching everything he could about what the Devil was really about and why he was cast out of Heaven. Lucifer's story made sense with everything he'd read. But just because he believed Lucifer didn't mean he trusted him. He was the Devil, and they knew nothing about him. They didn't know what he wanted or what he was going to do.

Just then, Lucifer walked into the room in his robe. "Good morning."

Sam eyed him carefully, but didn't speak.

Lucifer made his way to the coffee maker. "I certainly hope your coffee is better than your vodka, and your mattresses. Honestly, it was like sleeping on a rock."

"I wouldn't have thought the Devil would be so high maintmence," Sam commented.

"Ah, so you believe me? You are the smart one," Lucifer said with a smile before reaching into one of the cupboards for a coffee mug.

"Yeah, I do. I thought angels didn't sleep," Sam said.

"Yes, well, I'm an exception to that, as I have very limited Grace. I require sleep, though not nearly as much as humans," Lucifer said as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

'Why are you here?" Sam asked.

"I told you. I'm here to stop that creature that claims my identity," Lucifer said.

"He's already been stopped. He's trapped in an alternate reality," Sam said. Of course, he and Dean wanted to open it to get their mother back, but they would find a way to leave Lucifer… whoever he really was behind.

"That's not good enough. It needs to be destroyed," Lucifer said firmly.

"Why? Why do you want him killed so much now? This is the second time he's been let out. Where were you then? He tried to end the world and you didn't care," Sam said accusingly. So many lives might have been saved if Lucifer had intervened the first time, or better yet, not created this thing.

"I didn't know he'd been released. I had left Hell by then. And it shouldn't have been possible for him to be released. That is why I made the locks to that bloody cage so elaborate, and made sure only two demons knew about it," Lucifer said.

"I'm willing to guess one of them is Lilith," Sam said.

Lucifer nodded. "As the final lock, she had to be. She's the one that started breaking them. She despised the fact that I put my Grace into that thing, and once I had, she spoke of it like it was something to be revered. I didn't think she'd try to let it out though, if for no other reason than self-perseverance. It would kill her after all."

"All demons couldn't have known who you really were. Too many of them have referred to him as the real thing. One of them would've let something slip," Sam said.

"You're correct. Most thought _it_ was me. I found that somewhat entertaining. While a part of me was insulted by the fact that the idiots took someone else as me, I also enjoyed their stupidity, as well as the knowledge that I was right under their noses and could punish them for it whenever I chose," Lucifer said with a smile before taking a sip of his coffee. "Now, my turn for questions. I've been told my brother was killed by it. I need to know if it's true."

"I'm pretty sure a lot of your brothers were killed during the apocalypse. I don't know how many were killed Luc… him," Sam said.

"I'm only concerned about one at the moment. Gabriel," Lucifer said. It certainly bothered him that many of his siblings were murdered, but none of them mattered as much as Gabriel. He was the one he needed to know about.

Sam stiffened, and his hands shook slightly. To cover it up, he placed them in his pockets. "It's true."

"You're sure? Gabriel plays tricks sometimes," Lucifer said. He wasn't ready to give up yet. He needed some hope that his brother had set this all up.

Sam nodded sadly. "His wings were burned into the ground and he gave us a DVD for the event of his death. I think he had it a while. I think he knew he wouldn't survive the apocalypse.

Lucifer's hope was torn to pieces. Yes, it was still possible, but not entirely likely, especially when Gabriel left a will of sorts. Lucifer struggled to maintain his mask as the pain of knowing for sure that his brother was dead took ahold of him. He quickly reapplied the mask though.

"Tell me what happened."

Sam managed to get a glimpse of Lucifer's stricken face for a split second before the Devil hid it once more. He could tell that Lucifer loved Gabriel. "Some Pagan gods got ahold of my brother and me. They wanted us to lead them to who they thought was you. Gabriel was posing as a Pagan. He came to help."

Lucifer smiled, but he knew it came out as a sad smile. "What a way to throw the finger at the old man. I'm proud of you, little brother."

"Gabriel actually wanted the apocalypse to happen. Well, what he really wanted was for the fighting to stop," Sam told him.

"Yes, he always hated it when Michael and I fought. He wanted it to stop. Unfortunately, Michael and I hated each other by then. Nothing could stop it," Lucifer said.

"Anyway, Gabriel did decide to help us get away from the Pagans. He was really trying to protect them from his 'brother's' wrath. Unfortunately, it didn't exactly work out like we wanted," Sam said. He then explained everything that happened between Gabriel being caught by Kali and him coming back to save them. "He was willing to take you on to save everything, even if he didn't realize that it wasn't really you.

"I don't understand. It was a fool's move. Gabriel was the youngest of us, which means his power was the weakest. Well, until I cut my Grace out anyway. He knew he would never be able to withstand me at full power," Lucifer said as he tried to make sense of it. He couldn't understand why his brother would do what he did. He had to know taking 'him' head on would be a death sentence.

"Are you saying he knew he would die?" Sam asked with actual fear in his voice. If that was the case, then the guilt he already felt would be a hundred times worse. They convinced him to go back into that hotel. He and Dean told him to fight to stop 'Lucifer'. Sam felt guilty enough over that, especially since he'd started the whole thing when he killed Lilith. If Gabriel had knowingly gone to his death because they pressured him to, Sam would never forgive himself.

"That or he didn't think I'd go through with it. And if it had been me, he would've been right," Lucifer said. There were no circumstances where he could see himself harming Gabriel. He was the one person in the whole world whom Lucifer would never touch that way. Well, now Jack was another. He may not want to be the boy's father, but he was, and he would neither hurt him or allow anyone else to.

"I'm not sure which scenario is worse," Sam said. Either Gabriel willingly sacrificed himself or he died thinking he misjudged the love his big brother had for him. The worst part was that if it was the latter, it wasn't true. Gabriel would've died thinking his brother was so far gone that he didn't give a damn about him, and it wasn't true. Sam could tell that Lucifer loved Gabriel very much.

"Neither am I," Lucifer said. He and Sam just looked at each other for a few moments, both grieving the loss of the same person. Lucifer didn't know if the hunter realized it or not, but Gabriel mattered to him. He could see the sorrow in him. "It doesn't matter. The bloody abomination is going to pay for what it's done!"

Just then, there was a flutter of wings before Amenadiel appeared. "Good morning."

"Brother. Where have you been?" Lucifer asked.

"Checking on things in Heaven. I informed the other angels about the truth about you, Luci. I think they actually believe me this time," Amenadiel said.

"You're an archangel, aren't you? Don't they have to listen to you?" Sam asked.

"They don't have to believe me. They have been taught by Michael to believe his version. And truthfully, I have been more than a bit hesitant in taking charge. Its never been something I've wanted," Amenadiel explained before looking at Lucifer, who appeared more emotional than Amenadiel had seen in quite some time, though that wasn't saying much. "Why do you seem upset brother."

"I'm not upset!" Lucifer protested.

"I told him about Gabriel's death," Sam said quietly.

Amenadiel stared at Lucifer before gaining the courage to ask the question he was dreading an answer to. "Are we certain?"

"As certain as we can be. I don't see how he could be alive at this point," Lucifer said.

Amenadiel closed his eyes sadly. He wasn't as close to Gabriel as Lucifer, no one was really, but he still loved his baby brother. Very few could make him laugh, but Gabriel did, quite often.

Jack suddenly walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, Jack," Sam greeted.

"Good morning, Sam," Jack said before turning to Lucifer. "Good morning, Father."

Lucifer was rendered quite surprised. He wasn't expecting such a title. The boy was frightened and distrustful of him just last night. Plus, Lucifer wasn't used to anyone calling him such a name.

"I'm sorry. Should I not call you that?" Jack asked. He honestly hadn't been sure of what to call him. He didn't feel it was right to call his father by his name, even if he was the Devil. Anytime he'd encountered to father and son since he was born, he noticed the children address the fathers accordingly.

"No, it's acceptable. I was just momentarily surprised," Lucifer said.

"I'm gonna put on another pot of coffee. Once Dean and Cas come down, we should figure out what happens now," Sam said before going over to the coffee pot to start another pot.


	8. Chapter 8

Lucifer was currently sitting alone in the Winchester's library on the phone with Doctor Linda. He was trying to get her to help him with the whole Jack situation.

" _Let me see if I understand this correctly. You've left town to deal with some evil you said you created,"_ Linda started.

"Yes. I'm in Kansas. It's a terribly boring place compared to LA," Lucifer complained.

" _Uh huh. And while you were there, you found out you have a son?"_ Linda asked.

"Yes, Jack. He's not bad for a teenager, but I don't do well with children," Lucifer said.

" _Well, I can't say this part surprises me."_

"What do you mean it doesn't surprise you, Doctor? Me having an offspring should baffle you. It does me," Lucifer said.

" _Well, you have sex every night. It was bound to happen eventually,"_ Linda said.

"Oh, I have sex more than once a night. What does that have to do with anything? I didn't conceive Jack during sex. He's mine because he's made up of my Grace," Lucifer said.

There was a slight pause that lasted about two seconds. _"Okay, sure."_

Just then, Lucifer heard footsteps. He turned to see Dean.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Dean demanded suspiciously. He didn't like the dude anywhere in the bunker by himself. Who knew what he was doing.

"Hold on," Lucifer told Linda before removing the phone from his ear. "I'm in the middle of a session that's quite important and private. So, if you wouldn't mind…?"

"Session? What are you talking to your shrink?" Dean asked snidely.

"Yes. Thank you for understanding," Lucifer said before waving him off and bringing the phone back to his ear. "Sorry, Doctor. Now, back to my offspring."

Dean gaped at him for a minute, as he realized that the dude really did seem to be talking to his shrink. Not knowing what else to say, he started out of the room.

"I don't know what to do here, Doctor. I can't be a father," Lucifer said.

" _Look, I know you don't have any experience with children, but…"_

"I have experience with children," Lucifer interrupted.

" _Right, you've had a few run-ins with Chloe Decker's daughter, but I don't think that qualifies,"_ Linda said.

"No, not the detective's spawn. I've been around other children. I'm the third eldest of many, many siblings. I took care of my brother, Gabriel, solo his entire life," Lucifer said. He felt a pang as soon as Gabriel's name left his lips.

" _You what? Then why are you afraid of children?"_ Linda asked.

"I am not afraid of children," Lucifer said in outrage. "I am the Devil. I'm not afraid of anything. I simply don't like children."

" _Was your brother a difficult child?"_ Linda asked.

"No. Well, yes. Most would consider him difficult with all his tricks. My brother, Michael, was angered by him quite easily. But I didn't consider him as such. If anything, I welcomed his spirit and troublesome ways," Lucifer said with a wistful look on his face. He longed to be back to that time so much, where his baby brother was a carefree fledgling.

" _Lucifer, when was the last time you saw your brother,"_ Linda asked.

"Just before I was kicked out of, and just before he ran away," Lucifer said. He would never forget that look in Gabriel's eyes. The happy child was gone. All that was left was a sad, disappointed archangel. His eyes had haunted Lucifer for a long time.

" _Lucifer, I can tell that whatever it is that happened with your younger brother has affected you for a long time. Has it occurred to you that the reason your so hesitant to be around children, to get close to your son, is because of whatever it is that happened between you and your brother? I think you think you hurt your brother and you're afraid of that happening with another child,"_ Linda told him.

Lucifer sighed and sat there quietly.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Dean made his way into the kitchen after leaving the library. He found Sam, Cas, and Jack there with the archangel. "Hey, so we're just letting the wannabe Devil roam around here alone?"

"First of all, it's not like I could stop him. Second, what's he gonna do?" Sam asked.

"There are hundreds of dangerous things he could use to hurt us here," Dean said.

"He could hurt you just as well without them," Cas said.

"All the more reason not to leave him alone, especially in the library," Dean said. Of course, he left the dick alone too, but that was due to the shock of finding out the dude actually had a shrink.

"What do you think my father will do?" Jack asked.

"Don't call him that," Dean ordered.

"Why not? He is my father, and he doesn't seem so bad. It's what I should call him," Jack said.

"We don't know he's even your father," Dean said.

"I think we do, Dean. I did some research on the Devil and his fall. It adds up," Sam said.

"Sam, you can't rely on something a human has said. Their literature isn't very accurate," Castiel said.

"No offense, Cas, but we can't rely on what you've told us either. There's a good chance you were lied to," Sam said.

"Look, I understand that it is hard to hear that what you've believed for so long isn't true, but we have been honest with you," Amenadiel said.

"Yeah, how do we know that? How do we know you aren't the liar?" Dean asked.

"Because we have no reason to. We want the same thing you want. We want the creature you've seen as the Devil destroyed," Amenadiel said.

"No, not merely destroyed," Lucifer said as he entered the room. "It's going to be punished severely first."

"How'd your therapy session go," Dean attempted to goad.

"Quite well, thank you," Lucifer said before addressing the others. "So, shall we discuss how we're going to open the door to this alternate reality and dealing with this bastard.

"No way. I'm all for opening a door to get our mother, but we're not bringing that thing back out!" Dean snarled.

"Oh, yes, we are. I doubt I'd get the time to punish it thoroughly enough there. It will come here, and I will drag it to Hell where I torture it until it begs me to end it!" Lucifer said in a low and dangerous tone while his eyes glowed red for a moment.

"Calm down, Luci. It will pay for what its done," Amenadiel promised.

"Sam says you're not as strong as him, Father. What if he kills you?" Jack asked.

"Don't call it he, child. It's not a person, and it maybe stronger, but I have the means to kill it. Better yet, I have the means to torture it," Lucifer said with a sadistic grin.

"I don't understand something. If he…? If _it_ isn't my father, why does it want me so bad?" Jack asked.

"It probably thinks it is your father. But you need to understand something. It doesn't want you because it loves you. It wants control of your Grace. You are the most powerful thing, save one or two beings that actually exist in this world. That creature wants to control you," Amenadiel explained.

"Yeah, like the other angels and Asmodeus do," Sam said.

Lucifer quirked an eyebrow. "Asmodeus? I banished that bloody ponce centuries ago!"

"Well, he came back. He's running Hell and is after Jack," Sam said.

"Well, that won't do, will it? I suppose I'll have to take care of that," Lucifer said before grabbing his phone and dialing a number. "Maze, return to the Winchester's. We're taking a small trip back to Hell."

"I suppose you want me to be your ride," Amenadiel said when Lucifer hung up.

"Yes. Don't get any ideas about leaving me there," Lucifer said, only half-joking.

"There's too much you need to fix," Amenadiel said.

"You're going after Asmodeus? Isn't he stronger than you?" Sam said.

"Hey, who cares which one of them kills the other. Either way, it's one less problem," Dean said.

Ignoring Dean, Lucifer scoffed and answered Sam's question. "Asmodeus was a week coward. Out of all of my princes, he was last one to worry about."

Dean snorted. "He seemed pretty powerful to us."

"Well, you're human, Of course he's more powerful than you," Lucifer said.

"I want to come as well," Jack said.

"No!" Sam, Dean, and Cas said at the same time as Lucifer said, "Absolutely not!"

"Hell is no place for you," Lucifer said firmly.

"But you said I'm powerful. I can help," Jack protested.

"You are, but you can't yet control all that power," Castiel said.

"We can't let you endanger yourself," Sam said.

"But…"

"No, Jack," Lucifer said with a tone of finality.

"We can handle it, Jack. Even if Lucifer isn't a match for the demon, I am. Plus, we'll have another demon with us," Amenadiel assured the boy.

Jack nodded begrudgingly. He could see no one was going to let him help.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"Ah, nothing ever does change around here," Lucifer said as he, Maze, and Amenadiel roamed around Hell.

"Except that someone was stupid enough to put that dumbass in charge," Maze said.

Just then, two demons appeared in front of them and went to attack.

"I've got it. Keep going," Amenadiel said before using his power to throw them both across the room.

Lucifer almost wanted to stay to show the idiots who was in charge, but decided it wasn't worth his time. Asmodeus was the better target for that. He had a lot of nerve thinking he could take Lucifer's place.

Lucifer and Maze continued on until the reached the throne room. "I've almost missed this place."

"Lucifer, something's not right," Maze said. She could sense something, something that shouldn't be there.

Lucifer sensed it a moment later. Maze was correct, it wasn't right. It wasn't something that should be in Hell. "It's Grace, and not mine."

Maze walked over to the thrown and picked up two vials. "It's these."

Lucifer went over to her and released the cap. "This is archangel Grace. The Winchesters may be right. Asmodeus just might be more powerful than me now," Lucifer said. He could only assume the hell prince was injecting himself.

"He's feeding on it."

Lucifer nodded. "What troubles me though is how he got it. None of my siblings would willingly give it up. Plus, aside from Asmodeus and myself, there are no archangels left. Wait, except for Michael."

Just then, they heard a whimper nearby that sounded like a dying animal. They turned and saw the cage a few feet away.

Lucifer pocketed the vials and went over. He assumed it was Michael, but as much as he hated him, he would not leave him there. Not even Michael deserved to be tortured and have his Grace stolen from him.

Lucifer opened the cage and bent down. He gasped at the broken angel a few feet away. He knew who it was. He couldn't tell by the angel's Grace. That was too weak, but he could tell by the broken look on his face. Even inside a vessel, Lucifer knew the look. "Gabriel."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Gabriel won't recover as easily here as he did on the show. I never liked how after one day he seemed fine for the most part. It seemed very unrealistic.**

Lucifer had seen a lot of terrible things in his long lifetime. He was the ruler of Hell. Torture and punishment was in the job description. But nothing had been so horrifying, so gut retching as this. His baby brother was cowering in corner of a cage hugging his knees. There was blood and dirt all over him. His lips were sewn shut. They were sewn shut!

Maze peeked in behind Lucifer. "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen handiwork like this. It's kind of exciting."

Lucifer turned and hissed angrily at her.

Maze stepped back and put her hands up in surrender. Lucifer was not screwing around. He was pissed. His eyes were glowing red and they were wild with fury. This angel mattered to him.

Lucifer turned back to his brother and extended a hand inside the cage. "Gabriel."

Gabriel whimpered loudly and recoiled into himself even further.

"Brother, I won't hurt you. I never would," Lucifer said. He knew he couldn't really expect Gabriel to believe him though. Gabriel had clearly not known anything but Asmodeus' torture for a long time. Plus, the last time Gabriel had seen 'Lucifer' it hadn't gone well. "Gabriel, please let me get you out of here."

Gabriel shook his head wildly and continued to whimper and cry.

Just then, the door to the thrown room was opened and Amenadiel came in. "The demons are…" He cut himself out when he felt the Grace in the room. Grace that wasn't his or Lucifer's. The Grace was very faint and weak, but it was pretty sure he knew who it belonged to.

"Help me, brother," Lucifer begged Amenadiel.

Amenadiel rushed over and bent down next to his brother. Finally, he saw the same thing Lucifer was seeing. "Oh, Father. Gabriel."

"He won't let me help him," Lucifer said.

Amenadiel reached his hand out to Gabriel, much like Lucifer had. "Gabriel, take my hand."

Gabriel shrank away once more.

"Who knows how long he's been here, boys? He probably only sees another monster now," Maze said.

Amenadiel nodded. She was right. It had probably been too long since Gabriel had seen a friendly face. Plus, his Grace was weak, so he probably couldn't sense who they really were. "We have to get him out of here."

Lucifer nodded and slowly crawled about halfway into the cage. He was going to frighten his brother greatly, but it had to be done to help him.

Gabriel scrambled to get away, but he didn't really have anywhere to go.

As gently as he could, Lucifer took a hold of his brother and forcibly pulled him from the cage, all while his brother screamed through his sewn mouth. "I'm sorry. It's going to be alright, I promise.

Amenadiel grabbed Gabriel's other arm to help them both. "Let's get him back to the bunker."

"You go," Lucifer said before letting go of his grip on his younger brother.

Amenadiel watched as his brother's eyes became even colder than they already were. Lucifer had punishment on his mind, and not an easy one. "Luci, no."

"I'm going to burn the bastard's skin off, Amenadiel. Then I'm going to reattach it so I can do it again!" Lucifer hissed. Asmodeus was going to suffer for what he'd done. No touched his little brother without suffering severely. What he was planning to do to that abomination he created was nothing compared to what he was going to do Asmodeus.

Gabriel flinched cried from the angry words.

"No, not you, never," Lucifer promised. His voice had gone from a low angry one to a soft and gentle one.

"Brother, I know you want revenge. So do I, and we will have it. I promise, I will bring you back and help you give him exactly what he deserves, but Gabriel needs us, but more so, he needs you," Amenadiel said.

"Go. I'll take care of the pathetic excuse for a hell prince until you get back," Maze said with a sadistic smile.

Lucifer nodded before grabbing his brother's arm again. "Be careful, Maze. He has archangel Grace inside him. And don't do anything too damaging. He belongs to me."

Maze nodded.

Amenadiel quickly flew them away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Dean and Cas walked into the library to find Sam and Jack both buried in books. "What are you doing?" Dean asked.

"Looking for ways to open a portal to the alternate universe. I figure we might as well get started," Sam said.

"Has my father returned yet?" Jack asked.

"I wish you'd stop calling him that! No!" Dean snapped.

"Jack, I'm not sure you should trust him. He's done terrible things," Castiel said much more gently.

"But he hasn't. It was someone else who hurt all those people," Jack said.

"Well, if he's telling the truth, he's still responsible. He created it," Dean said.

"To be fair, that evil existed because of the Mark. Lucifer just moved it," Sam said.

"Why do you keep defending him?" Dean asked irritably.

"I'm not defending him. I'm not saying I trust him, but I'm not sure we should condemn him either. We don't know anything about him," Sam said.

"Well, he claims to be the Devil. Isn't that enough?" Dean asked.

"No, I don't think so because we don't even know what that means anymore," Sam said.

Just then they heard a loud noise coming from upstairs. "What the hell?" Dean asked.

"That's probably them returning," Castiel said.

"Yeah, well, what the hell are they doing?" Dean aske

They got up and headed out of the library. They walked out to the stairs just as Lucifer came down. They could all see that he was angry. His eyes were red, and they showed no signs of changing anytime soon.

"Where is your first aid kid," Lucifer demanded to know.

"Father, what's wrong? You're angry," Jack said.

Lucifer's anger only intensified as he looked at his son. He wasn't angry at Jack. He was just reminded that Asmodeus was after the boy, and it made him realize that the bastard probably intending to do the same to Jack as he did to Gabriel. The cretin was going to pay so much.

"Who's hurt, Lucifer?" Sam asked.

"If it's the demon, we're not…"

"Shut up, Dean," Sam said. Now was not the time to piss off the Devil. He might not be what they thought he was, but he was likely still pretty dangerous, especially when he was so angry.

"Follow me, but keep your distance. Don't crowd him," Lucifer instructed before leading the way upstairs. He brought them to the room he'd been staying.

Sam gasped at what he saw when they reached Lucifer's room. Gabriel was curled up on the bed in the fetal position and looked terrible.

"Brother, please, let me heal you," Amenadiel pleaded. He was knelt down right beside his younger brother.

"Gabriel?" Sam asked quietly before taking a step forward.

"No, don't go any closer. He spooks easily," Lucifer said.

Dean, meanwhile, looked like he would be sick. He'd never liked Gabriel. How could he like someone who'd killed him over and over again and then locked him in TV Land because he didn't want to deal with his family. But no one deserved this.

"Gabriel," Castiel said with no small amount of agony in his voice.

"Who is that? What happened to him?" Jack asked. He was having a hard time looking at this man. He'd never seen anyone hurt so bad.

"Jack, get me a first aid kit please. Also, a small knife and some towels," Lucifer said.

"Yes, Father," Jack said obediently before leaving the room as fast as he could.

"Why don't you just heal him?" Castiel asked.

"He won't let me, and I don't want to scare him further. His wounds aren't life threatening," Amenadiel said.

"Why won't he let you heal him?" Castiel asked. He couldn't understand why anyone would refuse healing.

"Who knows what's been done to him?" Sam asked in a broken voice. It hurt him to see Gabriel like this. He was so strong. He was an archangel. Now he was a shell that had been tortured until he was broken. Sam knew what that was like.

Jack quickly came back in with the items he'd been sent out for. "I have everything.

Lucifer took the things from his son and sat down on the bed next to his brother.

Gabriel inched as close to the edge of the bed as he could.

"Gabriel, listen to me. If you won't allow Amenadiel to heal you, I'm going to have to patch you up the old-fashioned way. First, I'll need to cut the stitches out. I will be as gentle as I can, but it will hurt. Do you understand?" Lucifer asked.

Gabriel nodded. He understood that he was going to be hurt anyway. He always understood that. Pain was an endless part of his life

"Gabriel, please, just allow Amenadiel to heal you," Lucifer begged. He did not want to hurt his brother. It would almost painless if Amenadiel was allowed to heal him.

"He doesn't trust me, Luci," Amenadiel said sadly. He couldn't really blame Gabriel there. He probably lost faith in him and all their siblings a long time ago.

"I doubt he trusts anyone right now," Sam said quietly.

Lucifer sighed and got to work. He slowly began to cut through the thread sealing his brother's lips shut.

Gabriel whined loudly and attempted to pull away.

Amenadiel watched near tears as Lucifer had to hold their baby brother down in order to cut thread out of his mouth.

Lucifer pulled the final thread out and then let go. "Alright, it's finished."

Gabriel opened and closed his mouth in surprise. They'd actually tried to help him? Why? Was it a game? Was he being tricked.

"Gabriel, can you speak?" Sam asked gently.

"You don't have to if you don't want to, baby brother. I know it might hurt to speak after so long. Will you let me clean you up a bit?" Lucifer asked as he held up a towel and the first aid kit.

Gabriel looked at him warily, but didn't pull away when hands came closer again to clean his wounds.

"Let's all let them be. We don' t want to overwhelm him," Amenadiel said.

Dean, Jack, and Cas immediately heeded the advice. Sam stood there for a moment. He was reluctant to turn away, but eventually he followed the others out.

Amenadiel walked out behind Sam and shut the door.

Lucifer finished cleaning his brother up as much as he could and then helped him lay back down. Once Gabriel was settled, Lucifer went over to the chair a few feet away. He removed his suit jacket and settled in the chair. He wasn't going anywhere for a long time.


	10. Chapter 10

Sam was in the kitchen the next day making breakfast. Once again, he hadn't slept much at all. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Gabriel's face. He saw the fear and brokenness all over him. It made him sick. It wasn't right. Gabriel had always been a happy person. He was always laughing and playing pranks, even if many of them were only funny to him. He was always strong. He was an archangel for crying out loud. But now he was none of that. He was completely and utterly broken.

Just then, footsteps were heard, followed by Dean's voice. "You're cooking? You never cook? Do you even know how?"

"Of course. I did have to eat at college, and I couldn't always get take out. I just had no need for it when I went back on the road with you. Then when we moved in here, you seemed to take the kitchen over," Sam said.

Dean grabbed a slice of bacon from the plate nearby of what was done. He immediately munched on it. "Not bad, Sammy."

Sam flipped some pancakes from the pan onto a plate. He then grabbed the chocolate syrup next to it and started lathering it on the pancakes.

"Dude, talk about teeth rotting. Aren't you the one that's usually harping about being healthy?" Dean asked.

"They're for Gabriel. He'll wanna eat something sweet," Sam said

Dean looked at his brother sadly. "If he wants to eat at all. He didn't seem up to doing anything last night."

Sam shuddered as he once again pictured the archangel's face.

"What he went through is hitting you hard," Dean said. It wasn't a question. He could see the turmoil on his brother's face. Dean wasn't sure why. He certainly understood being horrified by it, but it seemed different for Sam. It was like it was haunting him.

"What happened to him was terrible, Dean. Asmodeus tortured him for God only knows how long, and who knows how long how long it would've gone on if things had been different. What would've happened if Lucifer hadn't decided to go after Amenadiel to protect Jack?" Sam asked. That question had been torturing him. Gabriel could've been stuck with that torture until it finally killed him if not for Lucifer.

"It doesn't matter. They found him," Dean said.

"Do you think he was down there the whole time?" Sam asked. If Gabriel had been down there since the fight with 'Lucifer' then Sam felt like it was his fault. Gabriel had gone into that hotel to protect everyone from that thing with his brother's Grace, and that had been necessary because Sam had opened the Cage.

"I don't know," Dean said.

Amenadiel came down at that moment. "Morning."

Sam and Dean both turned to him. "Hey, Amenadiel. How's Gabriel?" Sam asked

"I haven't seen him yet this morning. Lucifer's with him though. He hasn't left his side," Amenadiel said. His eyes made it clear he was tortured with thoughts of Gabriel. Gabriel was his baby brother. He didn't have the relationship with him that Lucifer had, but he loved him.

"Please tell me Asmodeus is dead," Sam said.

"Not yet, but I assure you, he will die! But first he's going to suffer for what he did," Amenadiel vowed. He wasn't usually one for torture, even with demons, but this demon had destroyed his little brother. He wanted him to suffer like Gabriel had.

"Wait, you didn't kill him? What the hell? He'll come after us," Dean said angrily.

"No, he won't. He's being handled. Maze is occupying him, and I don't know any demon more capable than her," Amenadiel told him. "Gabriel needed to be our priority. We needed to get him out of there."

"Even if he did show up here, Dean, there are three angels and a Nephilim he'd have to get through. Amenadiel's right. Gabriel was the first priority," Sam said.

"Morning, Everyone," Jack said as he entered the room. "Father has asked if someone could bring some food up for Uncle Gabriel. He doesn't want to leave him." It had been explained to him yesterday that the man that his father and uncle brought home was their brother, his uncle.

"Yeah, I'll do that," Sam said before grabbing the plate he'd made up. He got some silverware and then headed out of the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Lucifer was still sitting in the chair in his room watching his brother. Gabriel was sitting on the bed watching him, like he was waiting for him to do something. It nearly broke Lucifer to realize that his brother was waiting for him to hurt him. He understood it though.

Soon there was a light knock at the door.

Gabriel flinched, and his eyes became fearful.

"It's alright, brother. No one will harm you," Lucifer promised before going to the door and opening it. He found Sam at the other side. "Hello, Sam."

"Hey. I brought food," Sam said.

Lucifer looked down at the plate in the hunter's hands. "I can only assume those are bits of pancakes mixed in with the bottle of chocolate sauce."

"Trust me, Gabriel will prefer it this way," Sam said before walking inside.

Gabriel watched warily as he was approached. He scooted back as Sam Winchester got closer. Well, it looked like Sam anyway. Gabriel wasn't fooled. It was a trick. Asmodeus liked to trick him by pretending he had been rescued. Gabriel knew he was still in that cage.

"Hey, Gabriel. I brought you some food. It's lathered in sugar, just how you like it," Sam said before slowly lowering the plate onto the bed.

Gabriel looked at the food longingly, but he didn't dare touch it. He'd only be punished if did.

"It's okay, Gabriel. You can eat it," Sam promised. He saw the look on his face. He was afraid to touch it.

"Step back," Lucifer told Sam. "He'll probably be more inclined if we're not as close."

Sam nodded and walked over to Lucifer. "I've never see him like this."

"He's never been like this. Torture can do a lot of damage," Lucifer said.

"I know. I was trapped in your cage with who I thought was you for a hundred years Hell time. I know what torture can do," Sam said with a shudder.

"How did you get locked in my cage?" Lucifer asked curiously. It shouldn't have even been possible for a human to be trapped in that cage. Very few even knew how to access that cage other than him, and none of them were human.

"Remember when I told you Gabriel left us a DVD before he 'died'. Well, on it, he told us how to lock your creation back up. It wasn't that simple though. We got all the horsemen rings, but we couldn't just push him in. We had to find another way to force him in," Sam explained.

"You let it possess you and you jumped," Lucifer realized. It made sense. Sam was said to be his vessel. It made sense that Sam would realize that that would be the easiest way to lock it back up.

Sam nodded.

"That was brave of you, albeit incredibly stupid," Lucifer said.

"It was the only way," Sam said.

Meanwhile, Gabriel hesitantly made a move towards the plate. He knew he shouldn't, but he wanted it so much. He grabbed it and then waited to see if it would be yanked away. When it wasn't he began eating.

"That's it, baby brother," Lucifer said quietly.

"Do you think he knows who we are?" Sam asked. He wondered if Gabriel could even see anyone other than Asmodeus now. He could see it. He remembered being so insane from the torture that he could only see his tormenter.

"I don't know. Even if he does, I doubt it means anything to him, especially where I'm concerned. The last he remembers of me was the person who stabbed him, or at least tried to," Lucifer said sadly. He hated that that was the last his brother knew of him. He wished he could explain that it wasn't true, but his brother was going through too much to even understand.

"He's never gonna be the way he was again, even if he comes out of the haze. He's going to carry it with him forever. It's gonna change who he is," Sam said sadly.

Lucifer looked at him intently. He could tell that he was speaking with experience. "As you do. I am sorry. That place was never meant for you, and that thing was never created to become anyone's torturer. That is why I locked it up."

"It was my choice to jump in. Plus, I'm the reason he was released in the first place. I broke the final seal. I killed Lilith. I guess the punishment fit," Sam said. He didn't blame anyone but himself. He certainly didn't blame Lucifer. He tried to contain what he'd created. Sam was the one that let it out.

Lucifer was surprised to find that Sam was the one who released his creation. Normally, he'd berate anyone who was that stupid, but Sam was already punishing himself enough. "You didn't break it out on your own. One seal didn't release it. Plus, I'd guess you were manipulated."

"It doesn't matter. I let him out. I had to be the one to put him back in, even if I had to go with him," Sam said.

"Well, I suppose it is immaterial now. It shall be taken care of now. Locking it up was clearly a mistake. I should've killed it," Lucifer said. The only reason he hadn't was because he'd been so weak then, even more than he was now. Cutting a piece of your being out was incredibly taxing.

Sam say that Gabriel was done eating and went towards him.

Gabriel whimpered and backed away in fright.

Sam stopped and held up his hands. "It's okay. I was just going to take the plate."

"Allow me," Lucifer said before snapping his fingers. The plate disappeared before their eyes.

"I didn't think you could do that," Sam said. He hadn't seen Lucifer snap his fingers to make anything appear or disappear since he arrived. He'd done things like that the old-fashioned way.

"I can, but I normally don't. It's tiring if I do it too much," Lucifer said.

"Can you smite and heal?" Sam asked.

"Smiting would put me in a coma for about a week, but, yes. As for healing, I doubt it, but I haven't tried. If I can, I imagine it would be quite like smiting," he explained.

Gabriel, meanwhile, was looking at the being claiming to be his brother curiously. He'd just wanted him use power to vanish a plate, and he was talking about using other powers. Was it possible that this was his brother? No, it couldn't be. It was a trick.

"What is it, Gabriel? You can speak to me. Say whatever you want," Lucifer urged after seeing the look his brother was giving him. It was the first time his brother had looked at anything with even the smallest amount of recognition.

Gabriel simply looked away and stared off into space.

Lucifer sighed and turned back to Sam. "Do you think you could help him out with some clothes? He should have a shower, and what he's wearing will be thrown into the nearest fireplace I can find."

"Yeah, of course. I'm sure Dean has something that will fit him," Sam said before heading out of the room.

Lucifer took a few steps towards his brother. "Gabriel, I don't know if you can understand me, or if you recognize me, but it is Lucifer. I know that may not reassure you given your last impression of me. If you can hear me though, I want you to understand that it wasn't me. I didn't try to kill you. I would never lay a finger on you. I promise.

Gabriel didn't respond.

Lucifer went back and sat down in the chair. "When this is over, and those who need to be are punished, You, Jack, and I will go back to LA. I will get you through this, little brother," he vowed.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Just a small warning. This chapter doesn't cast Dean in the best light. I don't intend to make him a bad guy in this story, but I think he has some very big flaws, especially when it comes to judging others and I feel that it should be addressed.**

Sam was exhausted as he was cleaning up from dinner. It had been about three days since Lucifer and Amenadiel brought Gabriel back. Since then, Sam had spent most of his time around the archangels, trying to help Gabriel come out of his shell. It hadn't done much good, but he would keep trying, just as Lucifer and Amenadiel kept trying. Because of all that, Sam had gotten very little sleep. There was also the fact that every time he closed his eyes, he saw Asmodeus hurting Gabriel.

Sam had just finished cleaning up when he turned around to see Dean looking at him both suspiciously and irritably. Sam jumped because he hadn't expected his brother to be there. "Dude, don't do that."

Dean did nothing but continue to look at him.

"What are you staring at me like that for?" Sam asked.

Dean shrugged. "Maybe because I haven't seen you around lately."

"What are you talking about. I haven't left the bunker since you, me and Cas came back," Sam said.

"No, you've just been spending most of your time upstairs with the Devil," Dean said irritably.

"What are you getting at?" Sam asked in a similar tone. He spent most of his time with Lucifer because he was trying to help with Gabriel. Was his brother really upset that he wanted to help someone who was tortured to the point where he was almost catatonic?

"Tell me you're not going there, Sam," Dean said.

"Going where? I don't know what you're talking about," Sam said confused. Dean was acting like trying to help with Gabriel was the worst thing in the world.

"I'm not an idiot, Sam. You're around the bastard all the time, and you've defended him since right after he got here. You've talked about how he's not like we thought the Devil was supposed to be. It just seems a whole like it was with Ruby," Dean said.

Sam began to realize what his brother was suggesting and then he started laughing. "You think I'm into Lucifer? Really? You're idiot."

"I know you swing both ways," Dean said. He'd known that since Sam was in high school. It never bothered him. He never cared whether his brother was into guys or girls. He did care if he was into Lucifer though.

"So what? So that means I want to be with Lucifer? Why? Because I'm civil to him? Because I can actually think things through rationally enough to give him a chance instead of immediately condemning him?" Sam asked.

"You've been spending a lot of time around him," Dean pointed out.

"Yeah, because we're both trying to do the same thing. Find a way to bring Gabriel back from wherever he is in his mind," Sam said.

"I don't buy that. Maybe you'd help Gabriel a little bit, but you wouldn't be up there all day and night, not for someone we both hate," Dean said. Pity was one thing. So was helping take food up or medical supplies, but he wouldn't be around him all the time. He couldn't stand Gabriel.

"You don't know how I feel!" Sam yelled.

"You know, you two are awful loud," a British voice said.

Both turned to see Lucifer enter the room.

"Get lost!" Dean snarled at Lucifer.

"You know, if we were having sex, you'd here your brother's through the walls. No one is quiet with me," Lucifer said with a grin.

"Alright, this conversation needs to end now," Sam said before heading out of the room.

Dean glared at Lucifer. "I don't know what you're doing with my brother, but stay away from him!"

"You know, Dean, you remind me too much of my brother, Michael, for my liking. He was a sanctimonious little bastard as well. He always thought he was right, and he refused to even entertain the idea that it could be otherwise. It's why we're in this situation now. You're just like him. You know nothing, but you think you do," Lucifer said with a sneer.

"Screw you! I know what I see!" Dean yelled.

"If you did, you'd know that your brother wasn't interested in me," Lucifer said. It was ludicrous that Sam wanted him. Anyone with eyes could see who he wanted. Lucifer certainly could. It was obvious every time he looked at Gabriel. He was pretty sure Amenadiel and even Castiel could see that as well.

"Then why's he always around you? I've seen him talking to you like one of his buddie instead of the actual Devil," Dean said.

"Well, at least you've finally accepted who I am. Perhaps it's because he feels he can speak to me. Perhaps he knows I won't judge him for the mistakes he's made. How many times have you judged him? I know you have. Like I said, you're just like my brother. Father knows he loved to judge," Lucifer said.

"Get away from me! You don't know anything about me or my brother!" Dean yelled.

"Oh, I do though. Your story is nearly the same as Michael's, and Sam's is nearly the same as mine. That's why you were supposed to be our vessels. You know, Michael and didn't always hate each other. I once loved him as much as Sam loves you. Now, if he were lying in the middle of the road in pain, I wouldn't even bother to kick him. I'd just walk over him like a random stranger. Perhaps you should think about that. That could be Sam one day," Lucifer warned.

"I just can't wait for the day that you and your asshole brothers are out of our hair," Dean sneered.

"That we agree on, Dean Winchester," Lucifer said before leaving the room. He didn't bother to tell the hunter that he was taking Jack with him when he left, or that Sam would be likely to follow to be with Gabriel. He'd let all of that be a surprise.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Jack walked into the library in the bunker and found his father sitting in front of a piano in the middle of the library. It had not been there before. "Where did that come from."

Lucifer turned to the boy. "I had your Uncle Amenadiel snap it up for me. Gabriel is sleeping, and I needed something to distract myself."

Jack walked over. "I saw one of these from outside a restaurant. I heard someone playing. It sounded nice."

"The piano is a wonderful instrument," Lucifer said before hitting a few keys.

Jack sat down next to him. "You play. Will you teach me how?"

Lucifer smiled at his son. "I will teach you if you wish, but you must understand that it is not something that you will learn in one day. The piano takes practice and patience. If you can promise that you will put in the effort to learn, I will teach you."

"I promise, Father," Jack immediately said. He wanted to do this. He didn't care if it took a while. He wanted to learn something from his father. He'd once thought of Castiel as his father, as that was what he'd heard from his mother, but Lucifer was his actual father. Jack felt more connected to him than he did anyone else.

"It may take years," Lucifer warned.

"Will you be here that long to teach me?" Jack asked. He'd heard both Castiel and Dean say that his father wouldn't be around after everything was settled. Jack was worried about that. He didn't want his father to go.

Lucifer looked at his son straight in the eye. "I am not abandoning you, Jack."

"I heard Castiel say you didn't want to be my father," Jack said.

Lucifer mentally cursed the seraph and made a note to tell him to pay attention to his surroundings before he started speaking. "I did not say that in the way you interpreted it. When I was told about you, I was not wild about the idea. That is because the last child I had experience with was millenniums ago . I was not certain that I could act as a parent. Sometimes when men learn they are or will be fathers, they are hesitant. Not because of the child, but because of themselves. I would not have chosen to be a parent before I met you, but that does not mean I am sorry to be one now. Do you understand?"

"I think so. You were afraid to be my father," Jack translated.

"I wouldn't use the word 'fear', but I suppose you're close enough," Lucifer said.

"So, what will happen when you have to leave? Dean won't let you stay here forever. He doesn't like you. Well, maybe he'll change his mind. He changed his mind about me. He hated me. He wanted to kill me," Jack said with a shudder. That had been a hard time for him. He had just been born and one of the two people he knew wanted to kill him.

Lucifer narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"He thought I was evil because I was your son. I was the son of the Devil," Jack said.

"Neither Dean Winchester, nor anyone else will ever lay a hand on you," Lucifer said firmly. If Winchester even looked at the boy wrong, he would be shown exactly what Lucifer was called the Devil.

"He won't now. He said he was wrong."

Lucifer decided to change the subject before he went down and killed Dean. "Well, would you like to hear something. If you are interested in learning to play the piano, I'll start teaching you another day, but how about I play something for you now?"

"Yes, please," Jack said with an eager smile.

"This is something I created when I was very young and still in Heaven. Your Uncle Gabriel was the first to hear it," Lucifer said before he began playing. He sang as he hit the keys.

Jack listened intently. It sounded so nice. He could tell it wasn't in English, but he understood it as if it were.

Soon, Dean walked in, followed by Amenadiel. "Where the hell did that come from?" Dean asked.

"I got it for him. Luci has always loved music, especially from the piano," Amenadiel said.

Castiel and Sam came in a few minutes later, having heard the music.

"What is he even playing? It sounds like gibberish," Dean said with a scowl

"No, it's beautiful. He's singing in Enochian. I have heard this before. I know it," Castiel said. He couldn't remember exactly where he'd heard it from, but he had. It made him feel at peace.

"Of course, you have. Every fledgling since Gabriel has heard it. Lucifer would sing it all the time for the fledglings," Amenadiel said. Most would find that strange now since Lucifer harped about not liking children, but Amenadiel was sure now that most of that was due to Lucifer putting up so many walls after his fall. As he looked at the young Nephilim listening to Lucifer's every word, Amenadiel was certain that the boy would be the one to break those walls.

"He sang to me?" Castiel asked in disbelief. He could not imagine Lucifer singing to him. He'd been taught his whole life that Lucifer hated all of them and would have killed them if he hadn't been cast out.

Soon, another inhabitant of the bunker joined them, having heard the music from his room.

Amenadiel and Sam were the first to notice Gabriel. They moved away and motioned for the others to as well, so Gabriel wouldn't feel crowded.

Gabriel listened and stared at the man singing and playing the piano. He knew that song. He was the first to ever hear it, and no one else besides his siblings ever had. Asmodeus couldn't have known about it. How could this all be a trick with that song. No demon knew about it, plus no demon could speak Enochian.

"Keep playing, brother," Amenadiel told Lucifer. He could see that Gabriel was responding to it and he didn't want him to stop.

Lucifer had just noticed Gabriel and was about to stop playing when Amenadiel spoke, so he kept going. He would wait and see what happened.

Gabriel listened for a few more minutes and then walked over to Lucifer. He stopped and just looked at him, trying to see for sure if it was really him.

Lucifer stopped and stood up. "Gabriel?"

Gabriel practically fell into the older archangel's arms as he realized it was really him. He grabbed onto his shirt as if his life depended on it and sobbed uncontrollably in his arms.

"I have you, little brother," Lucifer promised as he lowered them both to the ground and held his brother tightly.


	12. Chapter 12

Lucifer spend the rest of the night and the next day sitting with his little brother. Gabriel hadn't improved significantly. He still wouldn't speak, and he was very frightened when someone went to touch him. He allowed Lucifer to, but he was still wary of it. But he had improved some. He showed that he understood what was going on around him and who was around him. That meant something.

It was all enough that Lucifer decided it would be alright to leave him for a while. He wouldn't be gone long, not be Earth standards anyway. He would just be gone long enough to punish and then finish Asmodeus. Gabriel would probably sleep the entire time anyway, and if not, Lucifer trusted that Sam would be there to help him.

Before going to get Amenadiel to return to Hell, Lucifer stopped by Jack's room. He needed to let his son know he'd be gone for a while. He knocked on the door and waited.

"Come in," Jack said from the other side of the door.

Lucifer opened the door and found Jack laying on his bed.

Jack sat up when he saw his father. "Father."

"Jack, I will be leaving for a short while. I have unfinished business to take care of," Lucifer said.

"You're coming back, right?" Jack asked. His father said he wouldn't leave him, but he found himself afraid of the contrary. He had become quite attached to the man in the short time he'd known him.

"Of course. My absence will only be noticed by you for a few hours," Lucifer said. It would more like a few days for him, as Hell moved slower, but on Earth, not much time would pass. It was quite convenient in this instance.

"Are you going after Asmodeus?" Jack asked.

"Yes, and before you ask me again, no, you may not come. I don't want you to ever see the walls of Hell," Lucifer said firmly.

Jack nodded. "You'll be careful, won't you?"

"I will be fine, Jack. Your uncle will be with me, as will Mazikeen. The only one to die today will be Asmodeus. I will be back in a few hours," Lucifer promised.

Jack nodded. Honestly, he was worried for his father, but he was glad he was going to kill Asmodeus. He knew the demon was dangerous and after him. While Jack had managed to fight Asmodeus off with use once before, what if he couldn't the next time they meant. He had very little control over his abilities, and what Asmodeus had done to his Uncle Gabriel frightened him

"I'll come find you when I return," Lucifer promised before leaving the room. He went down to the library next, where he found the Winchester, Castiel, and Amenadiel.

"Hey, Luci. How's Gabriel doing?" Amenadiel asked.

"Well, no change since earlier today or last night, but better than he was a few days ago. It'll take time," Lucifer said.

"It's amazing how one song was a turning point," Sam said.

"Do you think it somehow jolted his mind into remembering you or something?" Amenadiel asked Lucifer.

"No. I don't think he ever forgot anything. I think my singing that specific song convinced him I was who I said I was, and not just some elaborate mirage created by Asmodeus," Lucifer said.

Sam's eyes widened in horror. "You really think he thought that."

"It seems very plausible. There are times when I caught him staring at me, as if trying to make a decision about me. I think it was whether or not I was really his brother," Lucifer explained.

"That's awful. That bastard needs to pay for what he's done to him," Amenadiel growled. He wanted severe pain brought down on Asmodeus. Gabriel was a mess because of him. It pained Amenadiel to see him that away. He remembered Gabriel as a fledgling, and even when he had grown up. He was always happy and playful. It was rare to see a frown on his face. Now he was broken, and it was killing Amenadiel to see it. The person responsible needed to pay.

"Yes, and on that note, I believe it is time, brother. I believe we've left Maze to take care of the situation long enough. Plus, I am more than ready to hear Asmodeus scream," Lucifer said in a vengeful and sadistic tone.

"Are you sure now is a good time. You're the only one Gabriel responds to. He might not take it well if you're not here," Amenadiel said.

"he's sleeping. We should be back before he wakes," Lucifer said.

"Okay," he said.

Lucifer turned to Sam. "You'll help my brother should he wake before I return, yes?"

"Yeah," Sam said immediately. He was glad to do all he could to help Gabriel.

"I'd also appreciate it if you'd look after Jack, and don't leave him alone with your brother," Lucifer said.

"Excuse me?" Dean asked with an edge to his voice.

"I am aware of your threats to my son's life. You even think of harming him and you will receive a taste of what Asmodeus is about to receive,' Lucifer said in a steel voice.

"Screw you! I was wrong about Jack, but I won't listen to a lecture from the freaking Devil. Stop pretending you give a damn about him anyway. He's nothing but a means to an end for you. You want something from him, probably his power," Dean sneered.

"I really don't care what you think of me or my intentions. Jack is my son. I will look out for him using any means necessary," Lucifer said.

"Yeah? You didn't want anything to do with him before, and thankfully when this is over, you'll be far away from the kid. The last thing an impressionable kid needs is the Devil's influence," Dean said.

"We'll see," was all Lucifer said before turning to his brother. "Are we ready?"

Amenadiel nodded and took ahold of Lucifer's shoulder before flying them both away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Maze grinned maliciously at her captive. She had Asmodeus shackled to the wall with a half ring of holy fire surrounding him. There were cuts and bruises all over his face. "Isn't this funny. You're imprisoned by the same things that make an angel powerless. Your shackles have been dipped in holy oil and the fire around you is holy fire. I guess this is what you get when you feed on an angel's Grace.

"You'll pay for this when I get out of here," Asmodeus panted. He couldn't deny he seemed pretty screwed though. He wasn't sure how she'd done it. All he knew was that he'd gone into his thrown room and found that his prisoner was gone. The next thing he knew Lucifer's personal demon had jumped him. She managed to knock him out, and when he woke up, he was exactly where I am not.

Maze laughed. "You've gotten arrogant over the years, haven't you? I remember when you used to cower at my feet. Some prince you were. You were nothing but a quivering coward. I guess we have angel Grace to thank for your new, misplaced confidence."

Maze went over to a small table that held an array of blades. She picked one of them up and approached her prisoner. "Do you remember the old days, Asmodeus? Do you remember groveling at Lucifer's feet? You wanted to be his favorite so bad. You were willing to do anything. But it wasn't enough. He saw you for the weak, defective creature you were. I wanted him to kill you, but for some reason, he let you live. All you had to do was never enter this domain again. You did though. That was your undoing. Well, the beginning of it anyway. You compounded the situation by enslaving his little brother. Now, Lucifer may not be one for family relations, but he'd never let anyone get away with harming them either," Maze said before taking her bade and slicing it across the demon's chest.

Asmodeus let out sound of agony.

"You should've seen his face. I don't think I've ever seen him so pissed, and I've been with almost as long as he'd been cast out of Heaven. This little chat we're having is nothing compared to what he's gonna do," Maze said.

"He doesn't even pale in comparison to what he used to be. He's weak. He was beaten by a couple of hunters. He has nothing on me," Asmodeus said smugly.

"Well, that sounds like a challenge to me," a new voice said.

Maze turned to see Lucifer and Amenadiel. "You guys certainly took you time. Not that I'll complain much. This has been fun. I missed this place," Maze said with a smile.

Lucifer walked over and stood in front of Asmodeus. "Hello, Asmodeus. Clearly it has been too longer."

Asmodeus' arrogance began to falter. As much as he proclaimed Lucifer had been weakened, now that he was in front of him, smiling at him with that same cruelty he had centuries before, he wasn't as sure of himself.

Lucifer looked down at the ring of holy fire. "Well, this an interesting development."

"He was ingesting your brother's Grace. I had a hunch he might have inherited your weaknesses with it," Maze said.

"Brilliant as always, Mazikeen, but I'm afraid it has to go," Lucifer said before snapping his fingers. The flames were suddenly doused with water until they disappeared. "Much better. We can have some real fun now. The question is, where should I begin? Should we start with taking off body parts? That's always fun, but it's such a mess. I suppose that can't be avoided though."

"Since when do you care about a mess anyway, brother?" Amenadiel asked.

"Valid point. Well, you deserve some fun as well. How about you go first?" Lucifer offered.

"Gladly," Amenadiel said before approaching them with rare cold smile on his face. He immediately used every bit of strength he had to repeated punch Asmodeus, both in the face and the stomach.

"Not very original, but I suppose it works," Lucifer said as he watched.

"Gabriel is our baby brother. He's the best of us!" Amenadiel yelled. He punctuated each word with another punch.

Asmodeus screamed out until the blows stopped. Then he laughed. "Well, now he's nothing but my little puppet."

Amenadiel kicked him in the stomach and watched him fall to the floor. The chains gave him enough room so that sit or lay down if he wanted to. "You took the light out of my brother's eyes. Now we'll take it out of yours, very, very slowly."

"The difference is that our brother will heal. We will ensure that you never do," Lucifer said.

"Go ahead now, Luci. I think I want to watch. Teach me how to properly punish someone like this piece of filth," Asmodeus said.

"It would be my pleasure. I think I have even decided where to start. It was hard to decide. There's so much I'd like to do to you, Asmodeus, but I'm sure I have the time to do it all. I have no shortage of time," Lucifer said. He snapped his fingers and a needle, as well as some thread appeared on the table.

Asmodeus gulped. He knew exactly what Lucifer had planned for him.

"It seems fitting doesn't it. You shall learn exactly how it feels to have your mouth sewn shut. You won't be as loud as I'd like, but I'll still be able to hear your screams," Lucifer said before picking up the needle and thread and approaching the hell prince with an evil grin on his face. "I suggest holding completely still. It will hurt so much worse if you don't. With that said, feel free to squirm.

It was likely that all of Hell heard Asmodeus scream.


	13. Chapter 13

Lucifer smiled gleefully as Asmodeus yelled in agony. Lucifer was currently finishing up the stitches on Asmodeus' mouth for the third time. The first time he'd done it, he'd asked Amenadiel for his opinion on his handiwork. His brother told him it looked lopsided. So of course, Lucifer had to cut them out and start again.

"Alright, brother. Now what do you think? I hope I did alright. I don't think our friend would like it very much if I had to start over yet again.

Amenadiel looked at Asmodeus and pretended to ponder. "Well, I suppose it's good enough. We really should move on now."

"Excellent," Lucifer said before turning back to Asmodeus. "I'm terribly sorry about all this, but I'm sure you understand. Imperfection isn't acceptable.

Asmodeus could do nothing but groan in pain while glaring at his tormentor.

"Now, for the next step, I need to learn exactly what you did to my brother. It is very important that I inflict every level of pain on you as you did on him. Since you can't exactly tell me what you did, I'm going to have to extract the information from your mind. Fair warning though, it will hurt," Lucifer said before placing his hand on Asmodeus' head. Honestly, he could do it without inflicting pain, but that would defeat his purposes. He wanted to cause the bastard pain.

Asmodeus screamed as much as he could through his stitched-up mouth. It felt like something was burning its way through his mind as it sifted through thought after thought.

Lucifer became angrier and angrier with each image he got of his baby brother being tortured at the hands of this monster. He was sure his eyes were glowing bright red by now. But that was as far as he would let his ire to take over. He refused to lose control. If he did, he would end up killing Asmodeus prematurely. That wasn't acceptable. He was not going to kill him until Asmodeus begged him.

Lucifer finally removed his hand. "Well, it appears I have my work cut out for me. I have hundreds of years worth of torture to inflict on you in just a few days. Don't worry though, I'll manage."

"Hundreds of years?" Amenadiel asked in a strained voice.

Lucifer nodded. "He had him here for seven years on Earth. That means seven hundred years down here."

Amenadiel closed his eyes sadly. The pain his brother had gone through was much worse than he'd even imagined. It was hard to believe Gabriel was still sane after so long.

Lucifer went over to the small table holding an array of knives and other blades. He picked on of them up, as well as a vial that was right next to it before approaching Asmodeus once more. "Now, first thing's first. Time to take what you've stolen." He made a cut into Asmodeus' neck and watched as Gabriel's Grace poured out of him.

Asmodeus yelled out, both in pain and in protest. Without that Grace, he would be weak again. Not that he seemed particularly strong at the moment anyway.

"There we are. You really shouldn't take things that aren't yours," Lucifer said before putting the cap on the vial of Grace and putting it in his pocket. "Now we'll begin the real pain."

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Sam gently closed the door of Gabriel's room after checking on the archangel. Gabriel was still sound asleep.

Castiel was standing behind Sam when he turned around. "How is he?"\

Sam jumped in surprise at his friend's sudden presence. "Cas, stop doing that!"

"I apologize, Sam. How is Gabriel?"

"He's still sleeping. Hopefully he sleeps until Lucifer and Amenadiel get back. I'm not sure how he'll respond to Lucifer being gone," Sam said.

"Yes, he has clung to Lucifer. Their relationship seems to be similar to the one you have with Dean," Castiel commented.

"Maybe," Sam said thoughtfully. The truth was, sometimes he wondered if they were that close anymore. They used to be as close as Lucifer and Gabriel were, but so much had happened over the years that it didn't seem like they were anymore. They loved each other, but it was just different than it was before.

"Is everything alright between you and Dean, Sam? Things seem tense between you," Castiel said.

Sam sighed. "Dean's upset because he's seen me talking with Lucifer and helping him with Gabriel."

"I don't understand," Castiel said.

"He's got in his head that I have a thing for Lucifer," Sam told him.

"Meaning sexually? That's ludicrous," Castiel said.

"Yes, exactly," Sam said in relief. He was glad someone could see how crazy the idea was.

"It is abundantly clear that you are in love with Gabriel," Castiel said bluntly.

"Right, but Dean can't… What?" Sam asked in disbelief as what Cas said finally registered in his mind.

"You are in love with Gabriel. It is quite clear. You are around Lucifer so much because of Gabriel. You're trying to help him," Castiel said.

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm in love with him," Sam said. Of course, a voice in the back of his mind was attempting to argue with that statement, but he chose to push that voice away. He couldn't be in love with Gabriel. He didn't even really know him.

"True, but you are. It is obvious with how you look at him. If even I can see it, it is clear. Most would agree I am not the most perceptive. I'm not sure why Dean can't see it," Castiel said.

Sam was about to argue when he heard Gabriel cry out loudly from the other room. He immediately ran into the room and found the archangel thrashing in bed.

Sam went over and gently sook Gabriel's shoulder. "Gabriel."

Gabriel's eyes popped open and he scrambled away from the hand trying to touch him, to the point where he fell off the bed.

"Gabriel, it's okay. It's me, Sam," Sam said. He gently went over to the other side of the bed where Gabriel had fallen. He immediately held out his hand to help him. "Are you okay? Can I help you up?"

Gabriel was trembling in fear, but he hesitantly reached his hand out.

Sam helped him up and onto the bed. "It's okay, Gabriel. No one's going to hurt you."

Gabriel looked around the room in search of his brother. He needed Lucifer. He felt the safest in his big brother's arms.

It wasn't hard for Sam to tell exactly who Gabriel was looking for. "Lucifer's not here right now, Gabriel, but he'll be back. He just had to take care of something."

Gabriel's eyes widened in fear. Lucifer was gone? No, he couldn't be gone. Gabriel needed him. He couldn't lose him again.

"He's coming back, I promise. He'll only be gone for a couple hours. Look, I promise, you'll be safe here, even with him gone for a few hours. We're not gonna hurt you or let anyone else do it. _I_ won't let anyone hurt you," Sam said with conviction.

Gabriel brought his knees to hic chest and looked down at the bed.

Sam went over and sat down in a chair nearby. "I know you're scared. Lucifer said he thought you might have thought this had all been a trick, another to torture you. Is he right?"

Gabriel gave a short nod after a minute.

"I can understand that. After the Cage, I wasn't sure what was real or what wasn't at times," Sam said.

Gabriel looked up at Sam and spoke for the first time in a hoarse voice. "C…cage?"

Sam was shocked to finally hear Gabriel speak, but pleasantly so. He'd been hoping to hear him speak. He couldn't deny missing his voice. "Yeah, when I jumped in. I let that thing we thought was Lucifer in to lock him up again. I'm not really sure what to call him. Lucifer would prefer we call him 'it'. Anyway, I jumped and then Michael grabbed onto me to stop me. We all got trapped."

"W…weren't s…supposed to," Gabriel said. He never wanted Sam to jump in. That was never his intention by telling the Winchesters about opening up the Cage again. He never would've told them if he thought Sam would do that.

"Well, we didn't really have many options. It wasn't like we could push him. Letting him in was the only choice I saw," Sam said.

"How… long?' Gabriel asked before attempting to clear his throat. It hurt so much to speak. He hadn't used his voice in a long time.

"Well, it got complicated. My soul was there longer than my body. It was about a hundred years," Sam said.

Castiel, who was standing in the doorway, cringed as he listened to Sam explain what happened to Gabriel. He still hadn't forgiven himself for how he'd screwed up with getting Sam out of Hell, and then of course tearing his wall down. He'd harmed Sam so much. He was lucky his friend didn't hate him.

Gabriel shuddered. That wasn't as long as with him, but it was still awful, especially for a human. He was surprised Sam wasn't insane. "S…sorry."

"I'm sorry for you too, and I'm here if you want to talk, but I also understand if you don't. Do you wanna go back to sleep. Lucifer will probably be back when you wake up again.

"Stay?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah, I'll stay," Sam promised.

Gabriel laid back down and closed his eyes.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Asmodeus screamed as Lucifer stuck a lit fire poker into hare chest. It had been days since Lucifer began his torture, each one more painful than the next. It had the Prince of Hell seriously rethinking his actions. He'd gotten cocky. He told himself that Lucifer had been weakened, and with Gabriel's Grace at his disposal, he could take control of Hell without consequence. But the man in front of him was not weak. He was the same sadistic bastard that had tortured him for disobedience centuries ago and ostracized him from Hell. Only this time, he was much more vengeful. Asmodeus knew he would not escape this with his life.

"This is beginning to get boring. I'll need to think of other ways to punish you. Perhaps I should use some medieval techniques. Humans have been very creative with torture in the past," Lucifer said.

Asmodeus tired to speak, tried to beg, but the stitches in his mouth wouldn't let him.

"No? You're not giving up this easily, are you? Come now, Asmodeus, surely you're not ready to give up. You're a Prince of Hell. You're supposed to be my predecessor, the new King of Hell. Yes, I know, it's quite ridiculous isn't it. Who would ever believe that you could be the ruler of Hell?" Lucifer asked with a mocking laugh.

"A bunch of idiotic demons," Maze muttered.

"Yes, suppose you're right," Lucifer said before turning to Maze. "Mazikeen, find me at least ten to fifteen demons and bring them here. We haven't time to round them all up," Lucifer said.

Maze nodded and left the room.

Lucifer gripped Asmodeus by the chin. "You, my friend, are going to be a message for each and every demon who dares to touch what is mine. But in the meantime, let us continue," he said before picking up the fire poker once more. He stuck it into the demon's right side, one of the few areas that weren't flayed, bruised, or cut.

Asmodeus whimpered loudly, and once again tried to speak.

"I suppose I should give you the chance to say something," Lucifer said before going over and picking up a knife. He went back and roughly cut Asmodeus' mouth open again.

"P…please just kill me. Please, I'm sorry, sir," Asmodeus said pitiful.

Lucifer laughed. "I knew you'd beg for death by the time I was finished with you. Don't worry, I intend to give it to you very soon.

Maze returned with a bunch of demons seconds later.

Lucifer flashed his devil face at them and they all bowed down. "Oh, do get up."

They all stood up and looked at Lucifer with respect.

"Thank you all for joining me. You see, I have been teaching your 'leader' here a lesson. You see he is of the opinion that I am weak, and so he decided he could take over and go after my blood. He in learning otherwise, and so shall you. I do not care who holds the throne. I am retired, and it is no longer my concern. But should anyone harm my brother or pursue my son again, and well, this will happen," Lucifer said before producing his archangel blade and plunging it into Asmodeus' chest and watching the life disappear from his vessel. "Does everyone understand."

There were a chorus of 'Yes sirs'.

"Good. I believe we'll take our leave now," Lucifer said before going over to Amenadiel. Maze did the same and they flew away.


	14. Chapter 14

Sam woke up the next morning with a groan. His back and neck ached from sleeping in a chair by Gabriel's bed. He began to rub the back of his neck in an effort to get soothe it.

Gabriel woke not long after Sam did. He rubbed his eyes a bit and then started to sit up.

"Hey, Gabriel. Did you sleep well the rest of the night?" Sam asked.

Gabriel didn't answer. He just looked around the room. "L…Lucifer?"

"I'm not sure. He should be back by now. Maybe he crashed in another room," Sam said. He hoped that was the case anyway. If Lucifer and Amenadiel weren't back yet, it probably meant something went wrong. "Are you hungry? We can go down to the kitchen if you want."

Gabriel was very reluctant to do that. He didn't like being around too many people. It made him feel cornered. But he knew Sam wanted him to go, and he didn't want to disappoint him.

"You don't have to. I can bring you up some breakfast," Sam said. He didn't want to pressure Gabriel into doing something he wasn't ready for. Gabriel needed time to heal from what Asmodeus had done to him.

"I…I'll go," Gabriel stuttered. It was still hard for him to speak. It had been so long since he was able to speak that his voice came out very raspy, and the simplest of words hurt to get out.

"Okay, great," Sam said before standing up.

Gabriel got up and started walking as well. He limped a little as he walked. He was still healing. It would probably be a long time before he could walk normally again.

Sam led the way down to the kitchen. Halfway there, he smelt something burning. As he turned into the kitchen, he saw Cas by the stove with Amenadiel hovering over him.

"Castiel, I do not eat, so I may be the wrong person to give advice on cooking, but I'm pretty sure bacon isn't supposed to be black," Amenadiel said.

Sam immediately rushed over and pushed the seraph out of the way. "Cas, what are you doing?! Are you trying to burn down the bunker?"

"No, I was attempting to cook the morning meal, but Amenadiel says I have failed," Castiel said.

"Spectacularly, Cas. You have failed spectacularly," Sam said as he took over control of the stove. He took the burnt bacon out of the pan and put it on a waiting plate. "One of you throw that away."

Amenadiel snapped his fingers and the burnt food disappeared.

"Okay, I guess that works too," Sam said before putting fresh bacon in the pan and turning the burner down.

Amenadiel, meanwhile, turned around and noticed his younger brother hovering in the doorway for the first time. "Gabriel, hey. How are you feeling?"

Gabriel just shrugged his shoulders. He didn't really know how to answer that. He wasn't great, but he'd also been much worse, like in that cage with Asmodeus torturing him. He shuddered just thinking about that. Suddenly he found himself terrified of going back there. He'd been safe here with Lucifer for the last few days, but Asmodeus wasn't just going to let him go. He was going to come after him.

Sam noticed the terrified look on Gabriel's face. "Gabriel, are you okay?"

"N…Need L…Luci," Gabriel said in a scared voice.

"He's upstairs sleeping, brother. He hasn't slept in about three days, so he conked out last night," Amenadiel said. He was surprised to hear Gabriel speak, but he immediately went to reassure his brother.

"Days?" Gabriel asked confused. They hadn't been gone for days. It had only been one night.

"Yeah. We were in Hell, so time moved differently," Amenadiel said.

Gabriel whimpered at the mention of Hell. It took his mind right back to the many, many years he'd spent down there.

"It's okay, Gabriel. You're safe. No one's gonna hurt you," Amenadiel promised.

"He… He's g…gonna c…come," Gabriel said. He was so scared he was near tears.

"No, he's not. That's why we went to Hell last night. To make sure he would never touch you again. He's dead, Gabriel," Amenadiel told him.

"D…dead? Y…you sure?" Gabriel asked hopefully.

"Yes. Lucifer plunged his blade into the bastard's chest, after making sure he suffered for what he did to you. He's gone."

Gabriel wanted with everything he had to believe his brother's words, but he was afraid to hope. If Asmodeus was dead, it meant he was free. Could that really be possible? It didn't feel like it could. He'd given up hope so long ago. Now he was free and Asmodeus was said to be dead. Hope was returning and that was scary.

Sam stepped away from the stove for a minute and approached the two archangels. "I know how you feel, Gabriel. It feels like it can't possibly be real. It is. He's gone," Sam promised.

Gabriel looked at Amenadiel. "Th…Thank you."

"It was Luci mostly, and we were happy to end him," Amenadiel said.

"Why's it smell like burnt bacon?" a gruff voice asked.

Gabriel whimpered and flinched at the sound of the new, slightly irritated voice. He turned to see Dean Winchester.

"Because Cas burnt the bacon," Sam said before going back to the stove.

"Who let Cas cook?" Dean asked. It seemed pretty obvious to him that a dude that didn't eat shouldn't be cooking. He was bound to screw it up.

"I was trying to be helpful," Castiel said.

"How does burning down the house help?" Dean asked gruffly.

Gabriel, meanwhile started to shift on his feet and grimaced painfully. His feet and legs were starting to hurt from standing too long.

"Brother, come sit," Amenadiel said before leading him over to the table.

Gabriel followed and sat down.

"So, is the SOB dead?" Dean asked, referring to Asmodeus.

"Very much so," Amenadiel said.

"Good, that's one less problem," Dean said before going over to the coffee maker to pour himself a cup of coffee.

Just then, Jack came bursting into the room looking upset.

"Jack, what's wrong?" Castiel asked.

"Where's Father?" Jack demanded to know. He'd woken up and realized it was morning and his father hadn't come to him to let him know he was back.

"He's fine, Jack. He's sleeping upstairs. You were asleep when we got back. That's why he didn't let you know we were back. He didn't want to wake you," Amenadiel said.

Gabriel stared at the boy. He'd seen him over the last few days, and he'd heard the boy refer to Lucifer as 'Father', but he thought he was mixing stuff up, maybe hallucinating or something. He just couldn't believe Lucifer had a kid. It was forbidden, and even Lucifer didn't have enough balls to break that rule. "L…Lucifer's s…son?"

"Yeah, Gabriel, this is your brother's son, Jack. Jack, officially meet Gabriel," Sam said as he flipped the bacon.

"Hello, Uncle Gabriel," Jack said with a wave. He wanted to shake his hand or something, but he'd noticed that his uncle didn't really let anyone touch him but his father. Jack didn't want to scare or upset him. "So, Father's okay, right?"

"Yes. He'll probably sleep a while, but he's fine," Amenadiel assured the boy.

"Yeah, too bad," Dean snarked.

Sam sighed. He felt the tension begin with his brother's last statement, and no one, especially Gabriel, needed that right now.

"Dean," Castiel chastised.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Perhaps you should keep your opinions to yourself in front of present company," Castiel said. He looked at Jack and could see that the boy was upset about his father being spoken of in such a way. He would wager that it bothered Gabriel and Amenadiel as well.

"Why? It's better that the kid knows his father's a dick," Dean said.

"Why do you hate my father so much? He hasn't done anything to you," Jack said.

"He's responsible for everything we're going through. That thing wouldn't exist if not for him!" Dean yelled.

Gabriel flinched and got up. He backed up to the wall.

"Dean, stop it!" Sam said in a low voice, but through gritted teeth. He'd be yelling right back, but he didn't want to scare Gabriel further.

Amenadiel turned his attention to his brother. "It's okay, little brother. No one's gonna hurt you."

"Why does everyone have blinders on when it comes to this asshole! He's the freaking Devil!" Dean continued to yell.

"Sam, find a way to shut your brother up or I will," Amenadiel warned. The hunter was really pissing him off. He hadn't been Lucifer's biggest fan since he was cast out, but Lucifer was still his brother. This hunter had no business talking about him this way, plus, he was upsetting Gabriel and Jack.

Lucifer soon entered the room looking none-too-pleased. "Is the concept of an inside voice lost on you. I was trying to sleep."

"You heard from all the way upstairs?" Castiel asked surprised. Sure, most angels would, but Lucifer was much weaker than most angels, so it surprised him.

"Well, yes, my Grace isn't that depleted," Lucifer said before looking to his son. "You alright, Jack?"

Jack nodded, but he was still quite upset.

"Okay, well, I don't believe you. I heard what the idiot had to say. Do not let what he has to say about me upset you. I certainly pay it no mind," Lucifer said.

"I think I'm going to go back upstairs. I'm not hungry anymore," Jack said before rushing out of the room.

Lucifer sighed and mead a mental note to check on his son later. Then he went over to Gabriel, who was still cowering in the corner with Amenadiel hovering over him. "Hey, little brother. What I said to Jack goes for you too. Pay the idiot no mind. And there's certainly no need to be afraid. I'll not allow anyone to hurt you again."

"Y…you won't l…leave me again?" Gabriel asked in a small voice.

Lucifer cringed. He was happy to hear his brother speaking again, but no so happy about what he said. He hated that those were his brother's first words to him, and he hated even more so that they had merit. He'd left Gabriel when he rebelled. "No. I'm not going anywhere."

"M…missed you, L…Luci," Gabriel said before hugging his brother.

"I missed you as well," Lucifer said as he hugged him back.


	15. Chapter 15

Lucifer spent most of the rest of the day sleeping. When he woke up, he decided to see how Jack was. He found that the boy was still a bit upset, so he decided to distract him. They were currently sitting in the library in front of the piano. "Do as I do."

Jack watched as he father pressed a couple of keys down. He did the same. "Very good. The first step is learning to familiarize yourself with all the different keys. Each one sounds different."

"It sounds like it will be hard," Jack said.

"Yes, as I've said, it will be difficult, but learning something new has rewards," Lucifer said.

Jack nodded. "Father, why does Dean hate you so much? He blames you for everything."

"Humans tend to do that. I am the Devil. Many humans feel the need to blame me for what goes wrong in their lives. However, Dean is not completely wrong about me. He blames me for my creature. A great deal of that is my doing. Of course, if my father hadn't given me that bloody mark, it wouldn't have happened, but I can see it from Dean's point of view," Lucifer said.

"But you're not like him. You don't hurt believe like he does," Jack said.

"Like _it_ does," Lucifer corrected. "You're correct, I'm not, but I created it. Though I also locked it up to prevent this all from happening."

"It was released. If it hadn't been many people would still be alive, but I wouldn't be," Jack said.

"That's correct, and for that reason, I'm not sorry I didn't just kill it after I created it," Lucifer said. While he could admit that his creation caused a lot of damage, for which it would die, it was the reason he had a son, and despite his initial reluctance, he would never wish his son away.

"Even though many people would still be alive, some of them your own family?" Jack asked.

"Yes. Do not doubt that you're worth those lives, at least you are to me. You're meant to be here," Lucifer said.

"Am I? Others don't think so. Dean wanted me killed and a lot of angels tried to kill me before I was born because of what I am," Jack said.

"Do not allow what others think to get to you. They're wrong," Lucifer said firmly.

"I…I killed someone," Jack said after a minute.

Lucifer turned and looked directly at his son. He didn't speak. He simply waited for Jack to continue.

"It was an accident. I was hunting with Dean, Sam, and Castiel. I used my powers, and someone died. He was innocent," Jack said near tears.

"You said it was an accident," Lucifer finally spoke.

"I know, but…"

"No, listen to me. You never meant to hurt anyone. You lost control of your abilities because they are new to you. Mistakes happen when you have a lot of power, at least until you've learned to use it correctly," Lucifer said.

"But doesn't it mean that the other angels are right? That I should've been killed?" Jack asked

"No. All it means is that you need to learn control," Lucifer said.

"So, you don't think I'm evil?"

"Of course not. I don't think I'm evil, and believe me, I've done worse than you have," Lucifer said. He may never have killed a human, even accidently, but he had led a rebellion against God. Many would consider that to be worse.

There were tears running down Jack's face. He tried to wipe them away, but they just kept falling.

On instinct, Lucifer pulled the boy into his arms to comfort him.

Jack hugged his father back as he continued to cry.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Sam knocked on the door to Gabriel's room and then slowly opened it and walked inside. He found Gabriel sitting up on the bed. "Hey. I just wanted to see how you were doing after this morning." Gabriel had gone back up to his room after Dean's outburst and no one but Lucifer had seen him since.

"Okay," Gabriel said.

Sam walked further into the room, but made sure to give Gabriel some space. "I'm really sorry about Dean. He shouldn't have lost it like that."

Gabriel cringed as he remembered the scene from that morning. He'd been so scared when the hunter started screaming, and Gabriel hated that. He was an archangel. He shouldn't be afraid of a human. But he was because he'd been thoroughly broken.

"He shouldn't have acted like that. It wasn't fair to you or to Jack," Sam said.

"He d…doesn't like Luci," Gabriel said.

"No. He can't get passed the fact that he's the Devil, even though that doesn't mean what we thought it did. Lucifer doesn't hate humans. He wants the same thing we do. He wanted Free Will," Sam said.

"I th…though the Mark ch…changed that. M…made him hate h…humans," Gabriel said. He knew better now, but before he thought something had changed after his brother was cast out. He deduced that it was the Mark that made him turn against humanity.

"Did he tell you what happened? He must have told you that the person you fought years ago wasn't him," Sam said.

"A…already knew it w…wasn't him. I knew when he was t…talking to my c…clone. It wasn't my b…brother," Gabriel said. When he first went back to the hotel, he believed it was Lucifer. He went in anyway to ensure Sam got away, even though he was pitting himself against the brother that raised him. But while he was listening to whoever that was speak, something didn't seem right. It was not his brother that was talking.

Sam nodded. "I can see how you would. I have to believe I'd know something was wrong if it were Dean. That thing was something Lucifer created to keep the Mark of Cain from corrupting him. He'll probably explain to you in more detail, but he cut out his infected Grace to save himself."

Gabriel chuckled, which he instantly regretted when he began having a coughing fit. "O…only L…Lucifer could find a w…way to get rid of the M…Mark's influence.

"Apparently the Cage was Lucifer's doing, not God's. He was never there," Sam said.

Now that surprised Gabriel. He'd heard for so long how his father had imprisoned Lucifer in the Cage not long after sending him to Hell. He supposed this was what happened when one listened to rumors over angel radio, especially when they were started by Michael. "That must have p…pissed him off. D…Dad being c…credited for his work."

Sam chuckled as he sat down in the chair by Gabriel. "I think he was both pissed and amused by everyone's stupidity."

Gabriel nodded. That sounded like Lucifer. He'd be pissed that their father got credit, but amused as he walked around while everyone thought he was trapped in some cage. "When did you f…find out who he r…really was?"

"Like a week ago. Just a day before he rescued you. It was hard to believe at first, but it became pretty clear he was telling the truth, at least for me. Dean took a little while longer, and even then, he hated him. Now he's jumping to all kinds of crazy conclusions," Sam said. He still couldn't get over how Dean had got it into his head that he and Lucifer were screwing each other, or that he wanted to at least.

"Like what?" Gabriel asked.

"He thinks I wanna be with Lucifer," Sam said.

"D…do you?" Gabriel asked, trying hard to keep the fear from his voice. He wouldn't begrudge his brother or Sam that happiness if it were true, but he really hoped it wasn't. He would never admit it to him, but he'd carried a torch for Sam for a long time.

"No," Sam replied quickly. For some reason it bothered him to let Gabriel think he was with Lucifer for even a second. "Dean's just being crazy because I don't hate Lucifer. Because I've gone out of my way to be helpful whenever I could for you and because sometimes I talk to Lucifer. It's just easy to talk to him sometimes," Sam said.

"H…he has that a…affect," Gabriel said. He was relieved to hear that Sam and Lucifer weren't together.

"There are things I can't say to Dean. Things I haven't been able to say to anyone. I say them to Lucifer because he listens without judging, like in regard to the apocalypse," Sam said. It had been nice to have Lucifer say that he wasn't responsible for what happened. No one had said that before. Dean forgave him, but Sam felt like he never really stopped judging him for it.

"S…sorry," Gabriel said after a minute.

"For what?" Sam asked confused.

"I judged," Gabriel said. He'd been angry when he found out Sam hadn't learned the lesson he tried to teach and had helped start the apocalypse. It wasn't really fair considering Sam was set up to fail from the beginning.

"No, it's okay. I know I deserved to be judged. It was just nice to find someone who finally doesn't. And Dean, he judges me on everything, but I'm supposed to forgive him in an instant. Plus, he has no problem forgiving everyone else for their sins, like Cas. He scrutinizes me though," Sam said bitterly. It made him angry sometimes. He understood that he screwed up a lot, but he wasn't the only one. But he was the one it was held against the most.

Sam soon realized who he was talking to and decided he shouldn't be complaining to Gabriel, not after what he'd been through. "Sorry. You don't need to hear about my woes. It's pretty meaningless after the hell you went through."

Gabriel shook his head. "Rather f…focus on s…someone else's misery."

"Well, thanks for listening. I think I'm going to go see about dinner. Dean went out, so it's on me. Any preference?" Sam asked.

"Something sweet," Gabriel said with a half-smile."

Sam chuckled before standing up and heading out of the room.


	16. Chapter 16

A couple of days later, Sam was sitting in the library with Lucifer, Jack, and Castiel going through books to try to find a way to open a portal to the alternate universe. It was just the three of them, as Amenadiel had dropped by Heaven, Dean was up in his room, Maze was out of the bunker, and Gabriel was sleeping. Gabriel was still not sleeping well at night, plus his Grace was low, so he slept often during the day.

"This is boring," Lucifer whined. He would rather be doing anything than hovering over a bunch of books that were absolutely no help.

Jack sighed. "I should be able to open it myself. I did it once before."

"You didn't know you were doing it. It was part of being born," Castiel said.

"I could still try," Jack said.

"I don't want you trying. You can't control the ability, so who knows what would happen. No, as much as it pains me to say it, we will do it this way," Lucifer said firmly.

"Don't worry, Jack, we'll find something in here," Sam said.

Just then, Dean came into the room. "Hey. Any luck?"

"Not yet," Sam told his brother.

"Didn't think so. Well, I caught a case," Dean said.

Sam turned to Dean in surprise. "You're looking for cases? Don't we have other pressing concerns?"

"We've been sitting around doing nothing. I need to get out of here for a while," Dean said. He really needed to get away from the Devil and whatever Sam was doing with him before he killed someone. A hunt would help him blow off steam and maybe help him come up with a way to stop whatever Lucifer was doing with Sam.

Sam reluctantly started to get up. He didn't particularly want to go, but Dean had made up his mind and he didn't want him to go alone. "Fine, let me get ready."

"No, you stay here and keep an eye on your boyfriend and his asshole brothers," Dean said with a glare sent towards Lucifer.

Jack looked at his father in confusion. "Father, you are with Sam now?"

"Ignore what this moron says, Jack. He doesn't know what he's talking about," Lucifer said in an almost bored tone.

"You shouldn't go alone, Dean," Sam said. He tried hard to ignore his brother's last comment.

"Cas can come with me," Dean said.

Castiel turned to Dean in surprise. "Dean, I believe I am of better use here."

"I disagree, brother. You're of better use taking _this_ away for a while," Lucifer said as he gestured to Dean. He for one was not sorry to see the hunter go for a while. It would be good to free of him for a few days.

"I'll meet you in the car," Dean said through gritted teeth before walking out of the room.

"Are you sure you'll be alright without me?" Castiel asked.

"Yeah, it's fine, Cas. I'd rather Dean have someone to watch his back, and he's right at least about it being better that it's not me right now," Sam said. Lucifer wasn't the only one who needed a break from Dean's crap. It was really better for everyone, especially Jack and Gabriel.

"I will call if something happens," Castiel said before standing up and walking away.

Lucifer got up as well and followed his brother out of the room. "Just a moment, Castiel."

Castiel turned to Lucifer and waited for whatever he wanted to say.

"Do you have any sway over that unfortunate human?" Lucifer asked.

"Why?" Castiel asked.

"Here's the thing. That bloody idiot is trying my patience. He's upsetting Jack and scaring Gabriel. I won't have it," Lucifer said firmly.

"Are you threatening him?" Castiel asked in a dangerous voice. He agreed that Dean was pushing things too far, but he wouldn't have his friend threatened.

"Certainly not. I don't need to threaten anyone to solve the problem. If he doesn't stop, I'll simply leave. This place may have the advantage of research materials, but I can make do and solve the problem of my creation on my own," Lucifer said. He preferred not to do it this way, as he knew it would hurt Sam to be away from Gabriel, but his brother and son came first. "Understand something though, brother. When I leave, my son will be joining me. Whether it happens tomorrow or several months from now, that is the outcome. Do you understand?"

Castiel wasn't surprised by Lucifer's pronouncement. He'd assumed for a little while now that that was what would happen. Lucifer and Jack only got closer as the days went on. Castiel feared Lucifer wouldn't leave with out Jack, and he also knew he couldn't stop the archangel from taking the boy. He wasn't ready for it to happen now though. "Yes. I'll make sure Dean stops."

Lucifer nodded curtly and watched his brother leave.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

After his conversation with Castiel, Lucifer went to check on Gabriel. When he got to his room, he found the younger angel thrashing on his bed. He gently shook him. "Wake up, little brother."

Gabriel violently flinched away, and his eyes popped open.

"You're alright, Gabriel. It's just me," Lucifer said.

Gabriel nodded and began to calm down. "Miss not needing sleep."

"Ah, I actually like that benefit of my Grace being depleted. It's peaceful," Lucifer said.

"Not for me," Gabriel said quietly. He'd finally stopped stuttering about a day ago, as he got used to speaking again.

"It will get better," Lucifer promised.

"Maybe when my Grace recharges. Right now, I just feel weak, like anyone could do anything to me," Gabriel said. He hated how he felt. He used to be strong. Not as strong as his older brothers, but he felt like not much could hurt him. Now he was afraid of everything and his Grace was almost nonexistent.

"I can solve that. I have some vials of your Grace. I would've given them to you earlier, but I wasn't sure you'd want them at the time. I thought you might be shying away from Grace. You wouldn't even let Amenadiel heal you," Lucifer said.

"I didn't think it was really him at first. I thought if I let him touch me, I'd be punished," Gabriel said.

"I'll get the vials for you," Lucifer said. He went over to the closet where his suit jackets were. He reached into the pockets of one and pulled out three vials that glowed white. He brought them over to his brother.

Gabriel took the vials. He unscrewed one of them and tipped it into his mouth, letting the Grace flow through him. It felt great. It felt like something that was missing was finding its way back to where it belonged. He was about to take the rest, but instead, he looked over at his brother for several moments.

"What's wrong?" Lucifer asked.

Making a split-second decision, Gabriel held the vials back out for his brother.

"You want to wait to take the rest?" Lucifer asked in confusion. He couldn't understand why Gabriel didn't just take the rest of his Grace now. It would make him feel better.

"No. You take them," Gabriel said.

"What? No, they're yours," Lucifer said immediately.

"I don't need them. My Grace will replenish eventually, and that vial helped. Your Grace won't," Gabriel said.

"Yes, and I accepted that when I cut my Grace out. I am not concerned about it," Lucifer said.

"You should be. You have to be stronger, Luci. I've heard talk about you trying to stop… whatever he is."

"Whatever _it_ is," Lucifer corrected automatically.

"He's made up of your cut out Grace. That means he's stronger than you. Your only hope is to become stronger," Gabriel said.

"Gabriel…"

"Please, Lucifer. I don't want you to get killed. I need you, so does your kid. Please," Lucifer said, his eyes practically begging his brother to do what he was asking.

"Bloody hell! You've always been too good at guilt tripping for your own good. Fine, let me have them," Lucifer said with his hand out.

Gabriel smirked and handed the vials over.

"You're sure?" Lucifer asked. He still didn't particularly want to do this. He felt like he was stealing his brother's Grace, even though Gabriel was giving him permission. But Gabriel was right. If he wanted to ensure he made it through this, he needed to be stronger, and he had to make it through for Jack and Gabriel. He promised both of them he wouldn't abandon them.

Gabriel nodded.

Lucifer swallowed both vials of Grace and felt extreme power flow through him. "Bloody hell. This is like a massive high. I haven't felt like this in eons," Lucifer said. He supposed he'd forgotten how good being so juiced up felt. He still felt he could do without it, but he couldn't deny the joy he felt on having a good fraction of his power back.

Gabriel frowned slightly as he looked at his brother. Lucifer's eyes were glowing white with the Grace he'd just ingested, much like an angel displaying his power, but the shadow of his wings wasn't there like he'd expect. "Where are your wings?"'

"Oh, I cut them off," Lucifer said nonchalantly.

Gabriel gasped in horror. His brother had just told him he'd chopped his wings off as off handedly as if he was talking about the weather. "What? Are you stupid?"

"No. I was proving a point. The old man has no control over me now," Lucifer said.

"Luci, your wings control over a quarter of your power! You cut them off to prove a stupid point to Dad?" Gabriel asked in disbelief. This was crazy to him. It was one thing for his brother to cut out his Grace. He understood that. It was the only way to get rid of the Mark's hold him. Cutting his wings off in some stupid fit of rebellion was just asinine.

Lucifer rolled his eyes at his brother's dramatics. "Oh, so I can't time travel, fly, or teleport. I never wanted to time travel anyway, and I find that I can get around just fine in my car. I think I even prefer it to flying.

Gabriel just shook his head in disbelief.

"Anyway, shall we head downstairs and get something to eat. I no longer feel the need to eat, but I still like it. I'm sure you still need to though, and you haven't since this morning," Lucifer said.

Gabriel was hesitant. He didn't venture out much since that first morning with Dean. He hated that the hunter had the power to scare him, but he did, even now that he was a little more powerful. There were just so many things that freaked him out now, and loud and angry voices were one of them. "Where's Dean?"

Lucifer smiled with glee. "Oh, that's the best thing that's happened today, even including this new power boost. He decided to go hunting with Castiel. He'll be gone for days!"

"That's good. It's good that everyone will get time away from him. He's hurting Sam," Gabriel said. That was another thing that bothered him about seeing Dean's anger. He knew it was hurting Sam. Sam had told him how much his brother was hurting him.

"Yes, he is. He won't for much longer hopefully," Lucifer said. Worst case scenario, if Dean didn't stop, his brother would eventually have enough and walk away from the bastard. Lucifer knew that from experience. "Shall we head to the kitchen? A snack and a drink sound good to me."

Gabriel nodded and stood up.

Lucifer led the way out of the room. "I better still be able to get drunk with this new power boost, otherwise I'm cutting it out again."

Gabriel chuckled slightly and followed his brother.


	17. Chapter 17

Castiel was sitting in the passenger seat of the Impala as Dean drove. They'd been on the road for a few hours. Castiel hadn't said much. He was thinking about how he was going to get Dean to stop antagonizing everyone. He'd honestly believed that was necessary even before Lucifer threatened to leave and take Jack with him. Now it was essential.

Dean looked over at his friend. "What's up with you, man? You've been quiet since we left the bunker, and you look like there's a lot on your mind."

"There is? I am contemplating how to tell you you're acting like an assbutt," Dean said bluntly.

Dean looked at him irritably. "Okay, first off, it's asshole, not assbutt. If you're gonna insult me, at least get it right! Second, what the hell is everyone's problem? I treat the Devil like he deserves, and everyone acts like I'm the dick."

"Perhaps it is the way you do it. No one is asking you to like Lucifer. I doubt even he cares if you have a problem with it. But is it really necessary to mention it every second? We know how you feel. Why do you have to keep pointing it out? Why do you have to frighten Gabriel or upset Jack"? Why must you take your anger out on your brother?" Castiel asked.

"Because the asshole is snowing everyone!" Dean screamed. "He's got everyone thinking he's a good guy! How does the damn Devil have so many people under his thumb?!"

"No one is under his thumb, Dean, but the fact that he isn't what we thought he was has to be taken under consideration. He isn't evil, Dean. He isn't what we thought," Castiel said. Honestly, a large part of him wished Lucifer was evil because that would mean he could justify trying to stop him from taking Jack when he left.

"The hell he's not! He's responsible for the freaking apocalypse. Not to mention that he's screwing around with my brother!" Dean sad.

"The apocalypse didn't start because of Lucifer. It started because it was foretold, and because Michael and Raphael made sure it did," Castiel said.

"It wouldn't have happened it he hadn't literally created a monster," Dean said.

"What would possibly make you think that? That monster was going to exist in one form or another. It is literally the Mark of Cain infused with archangel Grace, and its former host was Lucifer. You of all people know what the Mark can do. If Lucifer had allowed it to destroy him, he would be that monster, and he would have gladly fought Michael. In fact, it probably would've happened much sooner since he wasn't actually locked up," Castiel said.

"Then he should've found another way!" Dean fumed.

"Like we did? We didn't exactly handle your mark any better. Perhaps that's why you're so angry. Because Lucifer managed to find a way to free himself from the Mark before it got completely out of hand," Castiel said.

"No, I'm pissed because he's the Devil, and he's sinking his claws into my little brother!"

"Sam and Lucifer are not together, Dean. It is ridiculous that you'd think that," Castiel said.

"I know what I see!" Dean yelled.

"You are seeing something that is not there. Sam isn't interested in Lucifer. His interests lie with Gabriel," Castiel said. He felt a little bad violating Sam's privacy, but he had to get Dean to see how ridiculous he was being. It was the only way to get him to stop what he was doing.

Dean looked at him in surprise. "Did he tell you that?"

"No, he didn't have to. I can see it. Everyone but you can see it. Well, with the exceptions of perhaps Jack and Gabriel," Castiel said.

"Even if you're right, that's not any better, not everything that dick's done. So, either way, my brother is falling for something he should never think of touching," Dean said.

"This is about Ruby? You believe your brother will go dark again? Is that why you were so angry about the prospect of him being with Lucifer?" Castiel asked.

Dean didn't reply, which was an answer in itself.

"Dean, have you ever forgiven Sam for the apocalypse?" Castiel asked.

"Of course, I have. Why would you even ask that?!" Dean asked angrily.

"The fact that you're questioning him now makes it seem like you haven't. If you haven't forgiven him after eight years, it's unlikely you ever will. I think you owe it to him to tell him," Castiel said. Sam deserved to know if Dean couldn't forgive him. He could stop bending over backwards in an effort to make things better between them.

"It's not about forgiveness! He has a bad track record with relationships Either one of those dicks could manipulate him into God knows what!" Dean said angrily.

"So, you distrust him? That's no better. You can't let go of what happened eight years ago. I don't understand. You hold a grudge against your brother for a mistake he made years ago, even though he's hardly the only one to make mistakes. You allowed an angel to possess him and then you accepted the Mark of Cain without any thought," Castiel said. It seemed quite hypocritical of Dean to hold Sam's mistakes against him when he's made mistakes as well, and Sam had forgiven him.

"I had no choice, either time," Dean argued.

"You did. You just didn't like the other choices. And what about me? I tore down your brother's wall in order to keep you from stopping me from swallowing the creatures of Purgatory. You forgave me almost immediately. How must your brother feel about that? To know that you could forgive me so easily, but you'll never forgive him?" Castiel asked.

"D…did he tell you that's what he thinks?" Dean asked. For the first time, there was no anger in his voice. Instead, he was worried. He never even considered that his brother would think something like that. He didn't want him thinking that.

"No, but I imagine he's thought it. How can he not? He's your brother, and you've held his mistakes against him, but you forgave someone you'd known just a couple of years instantly. Why do you judge your brother more than anyone else?" Castiel asked.

"I don't know," Dean said honestly. Hearing the way Cas put it, he knew it wasn't fair. He had forgiven Cas rather easily, and Sam had done the same for him, yet Dean still held Sam's mistakes against him.

"He's not gonna put up with it forever, Dean," Castiel warned.

"That's what Lucifer said. He said I was judging Sam the way Michael judged him. He said Sam would hate me one day, just like he hates Michael. I didn't listen to him. I thought he was just trying to get under my skin," Dean said.

"I'm certain he was trying to get under your skin, but he was also being truthful. It is said that Michael and Lucifer were once very close. That is obviously not the case anymore," Castiel said.

"I don't want my brother to hate me," Dean said.

"Then you have to fix it. You're hurting him, Dean," Castiel said.

"But I can't pretend that I'm okay with him having a relationship with either Lucifer or Gabriel. Lucifer's the Devil and Gabriel tortured him," Dean said.

"That's between Sam and Gabriel, isn't it? Trust Sam to know what he's doing. And you need to stop being so hostile. Lucifer has threatened to leave if it doesn't stop. It's causing too much damage to Gabriel and Jack," Castiel said.

Dean snorted. "Like that's a bad thing. I want the son of a bitch to leave!"

"He will take Gabriel, which will hurt Sam, and he will take Jack," Castiel said.

"The hell he will! That kid's not going anywhere with him!" Dean said in a strong tone.

"You can't stop him. Lucifer is Jack's father. None of us can stop him from taking him. I'm not certain Jack would want us to stop him. They become closer every day. Jack loves him," Castiel said.

"I'm not letting him have control over that kid," Dean said.

"You can't stop him. Even low on Grace, he's still an archangel, plus he has another archangel in his corner. Jack will go with Lucifer when the time comes, but I would like to prolong that as long as possible. Plus, we could use all the help we can get when we search for your mother. I am asking you to stop for everyone's sake," Castiel said.

"Fine," Dean said. At the very least, it would buy time to stop Lucifer from taking Jack.

"Thank you," Castiel said.

"Do you think I should turn around and make things right with Sam?" Dean asked. He didn't want to wait to fix things with his brother. He didn't want to take the chance of making things worse.

"No. I think you should give him some space. It will also give you a chance to figure out what you want to say to him," Castiel said.

Dean reluctantly nodded and continued driving.


	18. Chapter 18

Sam was up early the next morning. He headed down to the kitchen around seven to start coffee. When he got there, he found Gabriel sitting at the table. "Morning."

Gabriel flinched and yelped, both in surprise and fear. He was very jumpy whenever someone entered the room and he didn't notice.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," Sam said.

Gabriel took a deep breath. "Don't apologize. All you did was walk into your own kitchen. It's not your fault I'm afraid of every little thing."

"It's not yours either," Sam said before going over to the coffee maker. He found that it was full. "You made coffee."

Gabriel nodded. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I could make myself useful."

"Thanks, but you didn't have to," Sam said. He didn't want Gabriel to think he had to do anything.

Gabriel shrugged.

Sam poured himself a cup of coffee and joined Gabriel at the table. "You couldn't sleep because of nightmares?"

Gabriel nodded.

"I still get them sometimes too," Sam said.

"Great. So, they'll never go away," Gabriel said miserable.

"I mean, it's not as bad as it used to be. At least it wasn't until he… well, _it,_ was released," Sam said.

"How did whatever that thing is get released again?" Gabriel asked curiously. He'd never heard the story of how the being with his brother's Grace got back out of the Cage.

Sam quickly explained what happened with Amara and how Cas had consented to let Lucifer's creation possess him in order to stop her. He also explained how the situation with Amara ended.

"Bastard," Gabriel said a bit angrily. "Dad nearly destroyed Luci by giving him the Mark and then goes ahead and forgives her. The whole thing was for nothing!"

"Dean too," Sam said.

"It was majorly stupid for him to take that mark," Gabriel said.

"He wasn't thinking clearly at the time, plus he had Crowley with him. That probably didn't help his rational thinking process. Plus, I can't really judge Dean on a stupid mistake. No one can argue that I've been there," Sam said.

"But it sure makes him a hypocrite, doesn't it? He continues to go at you when he's done his fair of stupid moves," Gabriel said.

Sam nodded sadly. He saw it that way too. It wasn't fair that Dean constantly made his own stupid decisions, but when Sam did it, it was the worst thing in the world.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. You should be able to enjoy your brother's absence without me reminding you of what a dick he's being," Gabriel said.

"No, it's okay. It's not like I wasn't already thinking about it. I…I don't know how much more I can take, Gabriel. I can tell that Dean doesn't trust me. If he did, he would've believed me when I said I wasn't with Lucifer. He hasn't trusted me in a long time. It's becoming more and more clear that he won't. I don't know if I can accept that much longer," Sam said.

"You shouldn't have to. You know, you've always reminded me of Lucifer. He was the best of us, just like you were of you and your brother. Then he made one mistake and he was judged for life," Gabriel said.

Sam laughed. "A few weeks ago, a comparison to Lucifer would've made my skin crawl. Now, I know he's not as bad as I thought. He's not the one who tortured me. He's not exactly good, but he's better than a lot angels I've seen. Hell, he's better than a lot of humans I've seen too."

"He is somewhat darker than he was before he fell. I think that's because he feels betrayed. He was. He was punished for something that was forced upon him. The Mark was destroying him, and he was cast out for that. That was the real reason I left Heaven. I said it was the fighting, and while that did bother me, it wasn't the reason. I couldn't watch my brother be torn to shreds," Gabriel explained.

"And the reason for all of it was Free Will. As if that's something that's so wrong," Sam said.

"It was then. Hell, a lot of angels still think it is, like Michael," Gabriel said.

"I can see why he'd be so angry with Chuck," Sam said.

Gabriel frowned at the hunter's last comment. "Chuck?"

"Yeah, it's just easier to call him that. I told you how we met him when we were dealing with Amara. He was posing as a prophet we met in the past. Or at least we thought he was a prophet at the time," Sam said.

Gabriel nodded.

Soon they both heard music coming from the piano in the library.

"Luci's up," Gabriel said.

"Or Jack. Lucifer's been trying to teach him how to play. Maybe he's practicing what Lucifer taught him," Sam said.

"I still can't believe Lucifer had a kid," Gabriel said.

"Neither could he. He didn't want to believe Jack was his at first. It didn't take long for them to bond though. I can tell Lucifer loves him," Sam said.

"The kid clearly idolizes his old man too. That'll make things easier when Luci takes him home. You do realize that's the plan, right?" Gabriel asked.

Sam nodded. "Lucifer hasn't said it in so many words, but it's pretty obvious he's not gonna leave him behind. Thankfully Dean hasn't come to that conclusion yet though. Things would probably be worse than they already are."

"He wants me to go too," Gabriel said. He remembered Lucifer talking to him when he still thought the whole thing was a trick. His brother wanted him to go with him when he left, and the majority of Gabriel wanted that. But there was also a large part that wanted to stay where he was. He wanted to be around Sam. Of course, he knew he couldn't. He doubted Sam wanted him around.

Sam froze, and his stomach dropped. He didn't know why, but it hadn't occurred to him that Gabriel would leave when Lucifer did. It should've. It was very clear that Gabriel needed Lucifer right now, and Lucifer wasn't going to stay at the bunker forever. Sam wasn't sure how he'd handle that. He didn't want to lose Gabriel again.

Soon, Lucifer made his way downstairs. "Good morning."

"Morning, bro. I guess it is Jack on the piano," Gabriel said.

"Yes. I assume he's practicing the notes I've shown him. I wasn't sure he'd have the discipline or patience to learn, but he's shown great dedication," Lucifer said with a proud smile.

Just then, a fluttering of wings could be heard, and then Amenadiel appeared. "We have a problem."

"Well, thank you for stating the obvious, brother. We'd forgotten," Lucifer said sarcastically.

Amenadiel rolled his eyes at his brother's antics. "Your creation is no longer trapped in an alternate universe. He's returned to this one."

"What? What about my mother?" Sam asked.

"I don't know, but I'd guess she's not here," Amenadiel said.

"How do you know Its returned," Lucifer asked.

"Well, I suppose we don't for sure, but there's an angelic being feeding on angels and stealing their Grace. All other angels are accounted for, so it's a reasonable assumption. Speaking of Grace, why do you seem to have more?" Amenadiel asked. He could sense more Grace within his brother, and he knew it was unrelated to the deaths of the other angels. Lucifer would never stoop that low, plus he'd lived on limited Grace for centuries.

"Later. If you're right, this gives us an advantage. If it's Grace has been depleted, it's weak, and that Grace won't grow back since it wasn't actually taken from an archangel," Lucifer said with smile.

"Wait, how did it lose Grace in the first place?" Sam asked.

"I'm not sure, but Luci's right. It's weak, unless it finds a way to steal enough Grace to sustain itself," Amenadiel said.

"It's time to end it," Lucifer said.

"I've located the few angels still on Earth and have them monitored. I'll know the second it makes a move, and then we can stop it," Amenadiel said.

"Wait, should we wait for Dean and Cas?" Sam asked.

"No. They'll be of little use anyway. I will go with Amenadiel and Maze," Lucifer said.

"No, I'm going too. I need to watch that thing die," Sam said in a firm and desperate voice.

Lucifer looked at the hunter for a moment. He could tell that Sam needed this in order to move on. He needed to see that the abomination was no threat to him or anyone he loved anymore. "Alright. Gabriel, do you believe you can stay here alone with Jack. If you can't, it's alright. We will figure something else out."

Sam winced. He hadn't thought about Gabriel. Someone should stay with him and Jack, and while Sam wanted to go, he also wanted Gabriel to feel safe. "I…I'll stay if you need me to."

Gabriel shook his head. "No, you need to go. I wish I could've seen Asmodeus die. I won't deprive you of the chance to see your tormentor put down. I'll be fine. I should get to know my nephew a little better anyway."

"You're sure?" Lucifer asked.

Gabriel nodded.

"Alright then. Let's get ready," Lucifer said before heading out of the room.


	19. Chapter 19

Sam walked into the library a few hours later, all ready to go when the time came. The others were there too, with Maze added to the group. "Any word from Amenadiel?"

"Not yet. I suppose we just have to wait for the bloody thing to make its move on another angel. Father knows I hate waiting," Lucifer grumbled.

Sam looked over at Jack, who had a very sour look on his face. "Are you alright, Jack?"

"He's fine. He is sulking because I will not allow him to come with us," Lucifer said matter-of-factly.

"I'm not sulking," Jack grumbled. It wasn't fair. He should be able to go. He could help. His powers might be able to stop the being that was trying to claim his father's identity.

"Of course not," Lucifer said with an eye roll.

"Damn, you're getting into this 'daddy' thing, aren't you? Who ever would've thought you'd be paternal," Maze said with a laugh.

"Jack, your father's right. It's too dangerous," Sam said.

"But you get to go. You have no powers at all. You're the one who would be useless in a fight. You should be the one that has to stay," Jack said angrily. He regretted his words mere seconds after they came out of his mouth. Sam had been the first friend he'd had here. He'd given him a chance when Dean just wanted to kill him. It just wasn't fair that he didn't get to go and help.

"Jack! Apologize! Then you're wait in your bedroom until I return!" Lucifer said sternly

I'm sorry, Sam. I didn't mean it," Jack said genuinely before getting up and leaving the room.

"Damn. Kid's pissed," Gabriel said.

Lucifer sighed. He didn't like how upset Jack was, nor that he had to punish him This was the first time Lucifer had had a problem with him since finding they met. He hated it. He didn't like being the stern, unfun parent, but he couldn't allow Jack's life to be put in danger, nor for him to be disrespectful to someone who didn't deserve it.

"This is probably our fault. We let him help us, and we probably shouldn't have," Sam said.

"Don't judge yourself for that. No, he shouldn't have been hunting, but you had a child thrust on you. You had to make do. Plus, it probably helped that he looked much older than he is," Lucifer said.

"And you've been hunting yourself since you were like nine. It makes it a little sense that you may not see it as a big deal for someone like Jack, especially since he looks older than he is and has powers," Gabriel added.

"Nine? Hunters are idiots. Not only do they stupidly think they can take on things that could crush them like bugs while barely touching them, but they actually teach their brats to do it as well?" Maze asked in disgust.

"We've saved a lot of lives," Sam said with a glare. He had never been the biggest fan of hunting, even now, while he'd accepted it, he wished he'd had had a normal life, but he understood the need for people like him. He was with Maze about the kid thing though. Kids shouldn't be taught how to hunt.

"And how much of a difference do you really think you make? You think the few monsters you get rid of makes a dent in the thousands that exist, especially when more are created every day?" Maze asked.

Sam didn't have an answer for that. It was a question he'd asked himself a lot. That was why he'd been so for shutting the gates of Hell, even at the expense of his own life. That would put a significant dent in the whole thing."

"That's enough, Maze," Lucifer said.

Just then, Amenadiel appeared. "We're ready. It's made its move."

Lucifer looked at Gabriel. "Are you sure you'll be alright, little brother?"

"I'll be fine. Just make sure you win this fight," Gabriel said. He didn't know what he'd do if Lucifer, Sam, and Amenadiel didn't come back. A part of him wanted to go with them just because he felt helpless sitting here, but even if he had enough Grace to be useful, he wasn't sure he could handle it. He was still very screwed up because of what happened to him.

Amenadiel snapped his fingers and teleported them all with him out of the bunker.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

The four of them appeared Moments later in an alley just as Lucifer's creation was about to take the Grace of the angel he had pinned against the wall of a building. Amenadiel immediately used his power to push the two apart. He then snapped his fingers to transport the angel back to Heaven.

Lucifer, meanwhile, approached the thing he'd created so long ago. "Hello. It has been a while, hasn't it?"

He looked up in astonishment before pulling himself to his feet. He could feel the other being's Grace. It was almost exactly like his, only a tad lighter. "It's not possible."

"Oh, unfortunately, it is. Did you think I wouldn't return to deal with you? You should've stayed where you belonged. No, it wouldn't have been fun, but you would've remained alive," Lucifer said.

"Who are you? You're not me," he said.

"Holy crap. It think really does think it's you," Maze said.

"Yes, it appears that theory was accurate. It is clearly delusional now," Lucifer said.

"Did you just call me 'it'?" the object of the conversation asked with irritation in his voice.

"Of course. It's what you are," Lucifer said simply. "You're not human, or an angel. You're not any creature that has even been known to exist. You're a manifestation of my Grace, the Mark of Cain, and what was left of a human soul. As such, you're nothing more than an abomination."

"How dare you?! I am an archangel! I am the Devil!" he growled before waving his hand and sending the man in front of him flying several feet away.

Lucifer laughed mockingly as he pulled himself to his feet. "You honestly believe that? Like I said, delusional. It's not surprising, really. You were probably half insane before I created you. Adding my Grace and the Mark of Cain only made it worse. No, I'm the Devil. I'm cast out son of God. You are nothing more than my attempt to rid myself of something that was slowly destroying me."

"You're crazy. I am Lucifer, even Dad knows it. He apologized to me. Why would he do that if I wasn't the real thing?" he asked.

"Because he needed you. You refused to help stop Amara unless he apologized. He told you what you wanted to hear," Sam said.

"You buy this? You've known me a long time, Sam. You freed me, just like it was prophesized. You freed the Devil. That was me. You must know that," he said.

"Of course, it was you. No one is disputing that. That prophesy was misconstrued. It only really stated that Sam here would be my vessel and Michael and I would fight. The Cage was never part of it because I was never in it. It wasn't even created by Dad. It was created by me to hold you," Lucifer said.

"No," he said with a head shake. He didn't know what game these people were playing, but he was Lucifer. He was the devil, not this idiot.

"Yes. You were created and chained up by me. You did serve your purposes though. You gave me a son. For that, I will show you some mercy. I will make your death relatively painless. You must still be punished, of course," Lucifer said. He wouldn't go as far as he was planning when he arrived at the bunker, but it would still be punished for trying to kill Gabriel, and for torturing the person Gabriel loved.

His eyes flashed angrily. "My son!"

Lucifer laughed once more. "Your son? You actually think something like you could father a child? No, the boy is mine. He is made up of my Grace. He is connected to me. He is my son. He knows he's my son too. He calls me 'Father'."

"No!" he yelled before attacking. He grabbed the man in front of him by the throat and slammed him against the building.

Amenadiel raised his hand and threw the creature off his brother.

Maze got in the middle and took out her blades as the thing got up and made to go after Lucifer again.

"Move, Maze. I can handle this," Lucifer said.

Maze reluctantly moved out of the way.

"I don't know what you are, but I will kill you!" Lucifer's creation said.

Lucifer chuckled. "Will you? You're running out of Grace. It won't replenish either because you're not an angel. That's why you have to take it from other angels. Mine, however, is pretty juiced up thanks to my brother. I believe I will be victorious, and once I am, I can move on and focus on bringing up my son."

He bared his teeth and attacked once more.

Lucifer dodged its attack and slammed his fist into it's face, sending it across the alley. "You know my boy wanted to come with me tonight to help destroy you? That's all he sees you as. You're nothing but something that has to be stopped to him. Of course, I wouldn't allow it. I would never allow him in your presence, nor would I allow him to face danger."

He advanced as the man's attempt to goad him worked. He lifted him through the air and threw him like a rag doll.

"Luci, let's stop playing games. End it," Amenadiel said. He knew Lucifer was just messing with this thing. He was prolonging things because he wanted it to suffer.

"Fine, ruin my fun," Lucifer said before standing up. In seconds, he pounced on his creation. He jumped on top of him, pinning him to the ground. Then he placed a hand on his head to smite him. He wanted to make death just a little painful, and this was the best way he knew.

"Even if you kill me, it won't be over. Michael will come for you. You will destroy you and this whole place," he said.

Lucifer laughed. "Michael is locked in my cage. Plus, that's not really his style."

"No, the other Michael. The one from the other universe. He's planning to come here. He's gonna destroy everything in his wake, just like he's doing there," he said with a smirk. He might die here, but he could find solace in the fact that everything else would too.

Lucifer only stopped for a second before he slowly smote the thing to the point where it's vessel's eyes burnt out. Then he stood up.

Sam walked over and looked down at it. He couldn't believe it, but it was actually dead. It could never hurt him or anyone else again. "Thank you, Lucifer."

Amenadiel walked over to his brother. "If it was telling the truth about Michael…"

Lucifer sighed and nodded. "Bloody hell."


	20. Chapter 20

Gabriel walked up to Jack's room maybe ten minutes after the others left. He was carrying snacks and bowls and spoons for the ice cream he found. The door was open, and Jack was laying on his stomach looking miserable. Gabriel knocked lightly on the door.

Jack looked over to find his uncle.

"Hey, kiddo. I brought you some comfort food. You like ice cream and popcorn? Please tell me Sam hasn't corrupted you with his dad awful salads," Gabriel joked as he walked inside.

"I like them. But I've never heard them be called comfort food. How does it comfort you?" Jack asked.

"By tasting amazing," Gabriel said. He put the ice cream on the table by the bed and started spooning it out into two bowls.

Jack sat up on his bed. "Is Sam mad at me?"

"Nah. Sam knows what it's like to say things you don't mean when you're upset," Gabriel assured him.

"I really didn't mean it," Jack said. He knew it wasn't right for him to say what he did to Sam. He was just angry.

"I know. It wasn't cool though," Gabriel said.

"I know, but it's not fair. Father let Sam go, and he's the one that would be in the most danger. I could help, but he won't let me," Jack said miserably.

"Sam needed to go. That thing did some terrible things to him. He needed to see it die so he could feel safe again," Gabriel said before handing the kid a bowl of ice cream. "Besides, Sam is an adult. He can decide for himself if the danger is worth risking himself."

"So am I," Jack said firmly.

Gabriel winced, knowing the young Nephilim wasn't going to respond well to what he was about to say. "Not really, kiddo. I mean, your body looks about late teens, but you're much younger than that. It's been less than a year, right?"

Jack nodded.

"Which means you are very young, too young to make certain choices yourself. You don't know the damage that that being has done and still could," Gabriel said.

"But I could…"

"Hey, I know you're powerful. There are very few beings out there more powerful than a Nephilim. And you will be able to use that power to do a lot of good, and from the little I know about you, I believe you will, but you need to learn to use it all first. Lucifer's not cutting you out because he doesn't trust you or anything like that. He's trying to protect you until you can get a handle on your power. He loves you and he doesn't want you hurt." Gabriel said.

"You think he loves me?" Jack asked.

"Of course, he does. I know he doesn't say it, but that's just because he's never been good at that. But I've seen him with you. He loves spending time with you. He makes sure to protect you at all costs. He wants you to be safe and happy. Don't doubt that he loves you, Jack," Gabriel said.

"But he'll leave eventually," Jack said sadly. His father told him he wouldn't leave him, but Jack didn't see how that was possible. His father couldn't stay in the Bunker forever, if for no other reason than because Dean wouldn't let him.

"And you'll go with him," Gabriel said. He wasn't sure Lucifer wanted Jack to know that yet, but Gabriel didn't want Jack thinking that his father was going to leave him one day. He needed to know that wouldn't happen.

"Really?" Jack asked surprise. He had never considered that his father would want him to go with him when he left. He just assumed he'd be staying with the Winchester's and Castiel. Honestly, he wasn't sure how he felt. He wanted to be with his father, but he liked being with Sam, Dean, and Castiel as well. How could he choose?

"Yeah. He told me himself that he intends to take you with him," Gabriel said.

"What about the others?" Jack asked.

"I'm sure you'll be able to see them. Hell, you have the power to see them whenever you want. But let's table that discussion. You can talk to your dad about it when he comes back. In the meantime, what do you say I drag Sam's TV in here and show you some classic movies?" Gabriel asked with a smile.

"I don't think I'm supposed to have fun. I think I'm being punished," Jack said.

Gabriel smiled wryly. Nephew, I have much to teach you about getting around rules and punishments. I'm a pro, especially where your father is concerned. There is this great thing called a loop hole that I'm going to introduce you to. See, Luci said you couldn't leave this room. He never said anything about fun or TV, so technically, we're not breaking any rules.

Jack smiled back at him. He knew already that he was going to like his Uncle Gabriel.

Before Gabriel could do as he'd just suggested, he heard a loud bang, followed by voices. He couldn't help it, he flinched as soon as he heard it and his heart started to pound. He wondered if he would ever stop freaking out at the slightest thing.

"Stupid freaking humans!" Dean's voice echoed from close by.

"It's strange. I've heard angels say that quite frequently," Castiel was saying.

"Sammy?" Dean called. He then started peeking in rooms until he reached Jack's. "Hey, where's Sam."

"He's not here. He went with Father, Uncle Amenadiel, and Maze. You finished your hunt already?" Jack asked. That was pretty quick. It usually took a couple of days to conduct a hunt. Dean and Castiel had been barely gone a day.

Dean scowled. "It was freaking waste of time. It wasn't even a real hunt. Just a couple of sick freaking humans. We drove all that way for nothing."

"Where did everyone go?" Castiel asked.

"Luci's freaky abomination made it's way back to this reality," Gabriel said.

"What? What about my mom?" Dean asked.

"No sign of her, so she probably isn't here. They all went to stop the thing once and for all," Gabriel said.

"Wait, so we went out to something that turned out to be just a couple of gruesome human murders and the action was happening here?" Dean asked irritably. It was freaking unbelievable. He'd figured he'd come back and they'd still be nowhere with stopping that thing, and instead, this was where the action was.

Gabriel and Jack both nodded.

"Oh, come on!" Dean complained.

Just then, more voices were heard, causing all of them to turn towards them.

"I don't want to hear any more of this Amenadiel!" Lucifer was saying with a large amount of annoyance in his voice.

"Luci, we need all the help we can get," Amenadiel said.

"The bloody idiot will be no help," Lucifer said before turning the corner and walking into Jack's room. The others followed him.

Sam locked eyes on Dean, surprised that he and Cas were back so soon. "Hey. When'd you get back."

"Just now. It was a wasted trip. It was just some normal, random murders. I hear the real action was here. Though from what I just heard, it didn't work out," Dean said. He'd heard the too angels fighting, so he assumed Lucifer's monster was still alive.

"Oh, no, Lucifer killed it," Sam said with a smile. "It's finally gone, Dean. We never have to worry about it again."

"Well, then what are they arguing about?" Dean wondered.

"It doesn't matter. It is not going to happen," Lucifer said, sending a glare towards Amenadiel.

"Luci, we're talking about Michael here," Amenadiel said.

"Michael? That dick's in the cage where he belongs. What's he got to do with anything?" Dean asked.

Amenadiel and Lucifer explained to those who weren't present what happened with Lucifer's creation and what it had told them.

"Are you freaking kidding me? Now we've got another asshole archangel to deal with?" Dean asked unhappily.

"We will if Michael makes it here," Sam said.

"Which means, we need more help," Amenadiel said with a pointed look towards Lucifer.

"And your plan is to spring another version of the ponce from my cage to do it? What sense does that make?" Lucifer asked.

"What? You want to release Michael? No freaking way!" Dean said firmly. For once, he was with Lucifer. There was no way they were releasing that dick.

"Our Michael isn't like that one. He's an ass, but he's still semi dedicated to protecting Father's creations," Amenadiel said.

"The apocalypse," Sam pointed out.

"I did say semi. Look, we need help here. We can't take him on alone," Amenadiel said.

"Why? We can handle the situation. You are just as powerful as Michael is, and I'm not so bad off myself anymore. We can handle him," Lucifer said.

"Except it won't just be him. If he makes it here, he's going to come with an army, same if we make it to him. To win, we need more of us. We don't have the numbers for seraphs, so we we'll have to make do with another archangel. Besides, no one will know how to fight Michael better than Michael," Amenadiel pointed out.

"I think Amenadiel is right," Sam said.

"Sam!" Dean exclaimed.

"We need all the help we can get. The problem is, Lucifer's creation said Michael was basically insane from being locked in the cage," Sam said.

"Anything it says is questionable, but if so, hopefully, we'll have time to try to get him back to normal," Amenadiel said before turning to Lucifer. He couldn't do anything unless Lucifer agreed. He was the one who created the cage, so he would have to open it. Amenadiel didn't know how without the seals.

"Suck it up, Lucifer. It seems like it's necessary," Maze said.

"I know you don't like it, bro, but they may have a point," Gabriel said.

Lucifer sighed. "Bloody Hell! I'll think about it."

"We've got time before we have to worry about this, right?" Dean asked.

"Probably some, but we shouldn't waste a lot," Amenadiel said.

Dean nodded and turned to his brother. "Think we can talk?"

Sam nodded and led the way out of the room.


	21. Chapter 21

Sam followed Dean down to the kitchen, where they both took a seat at the table. Sam was more than a little on edge. He wondered if he was about to the subject of more accusations. He honestly wasn't sure he could take much more.

Dean cleared his throat. "Listen, It's come to my attention that I've been a dick lately."

"Am I supposed to disagree?" Sam asked.

"Had that coming, I guess," Dean said. He got up and went to the fridge. He took out too beers, opened them and brought them over to the table. He put Sam's in front of him before taking a sip of his and sitting back down. "Look, I could've asked you in a better way if you were with Lucifer."

"You never asked me if I was with Lucifer. You accused me of it, quite hatefully, like I'd committed some sin," Sam said in a hard tone.

"I'm pretty sure most would consider dating the Devil a sin," Dean half-joked. One look to his brother made it clear that Sam was not amused. "Sorry. Alright, so let me finally ask. Are you with Lucifer, or do you want to be?"

"I've already told you, no," Sam said.

"What about Gabriel?" Dean asked.

"Gabriel?" Sam asked, taken off guard.

"Are you in love with him?" Dean asked.

Sam was quiet for aa few seconds as he contemplated how to answer. "I don't know. There's something there. There has been since I met him."

Dean sighed, clearly unhappy about what he was hearing. He wasn't sure what to say though. He didn't want to push his brother further away by being an ass, but he just didn't like it.

"Say what you want to say, Dean," Sam said shortly.

"He stuck you in a time loop. He put us in TV Land. Why would you want anything to do with the dick?" Dean asked.

Sam took a sip of his beer before answering. "I did a lot of thinking about the time loop after TV Land. I hated him for killing you the way he did. Up until you actually went to Hell, it was the worst thing I ever experienced. But I went over it in my head when we learned the truth about Gabriel. I thought about every single thing he said to me before finally ending it. He said you were my weakness, and that obsessing over saving you would end me. He was right, and he knew it. He knew we were heading for the apocalypse."

"So why not just say that?" Dean asked.

"Come on, Dean. Angels? The Devil? The Apocalypse? That was a bit much, even for us. We never would've believed him," Sam said.

"He could've looked for another way," Dean said.

"He was trying to save his brother. I get that, so should you," Sam told him. Both of them knew what it was like to put each other before anything else. They'd gone to such desperate lengths to save each other. Why should Gabriel be vilified for doing the same?

Dean could admit that his brother had a point, but that didn't mean he was ready to let Gabriel off the hook after what he'd done to them. However, he wanted to make things better between him and his brother. He couldn't make it worse by attacking someone Sam admitted to having feelings for. "Alright. I don't like him, but I'll let it go. Listen, I just want to say I'm sorry for the things I've said over the last few days."

Sam was tempted to let it go. To tell Dean it was okay and move on. He didn't particularly want to get into it with his brother. But it would only be a temporary fix. Eventually, Dean would find another thing to come at him about. He couldn't keep dealing with that. "Are you? Would you still be sorry if I'd told you I was interested in Lucifer?"

"Does that really matter?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, Dean, it does. If you thought I wanted to be with Lucifer, you'd still be coming at me," Sam said.

"He's the Devil, Sam. Of course, I wouldn't want you to be with him," Dean said. He realized he was wrong to treat Sam the way he did, and maybe even to go at Lucifer in front of Jack, but he still believed he was right about Lucifer. He would never trust him. He would never see anything but the Devil.

Sam shook his head. "This is not about Lucifer. He's just the newest excuse for you not to trust me."

"Excuse? What, you think I don't want to trust you?" Dean asked in disbelief.

"No, I think you already don't trust me and you don't want to say it. Be honest about what you saw when you thought that I might be into Lucifer. You saw Ruby. You have never forgiven me for that," Sam said bitterly.

"That's not…" Dean trailed off. He'd started to tell Sam he was wrong, but he realized that he had to be honest with Sam if he expected to save their relationship, which meant being honest with himself as well. Were Sam and Cas both right? After eight years, had he really not forgiven Sam? "I…I thought I had."

Hearing his brother admit that he many not have forgiven him felt like a hard blow to his stomach, despite the fact that deep down, he knew it was true. "How am I supposed to live with that? How do I deal with the fact that you haven't forgiven me after nearly a decade? If you can't forgive me after all this time, Dean, you never will."

"I'm not saying I haven't forgiven you, Sam. I'm saying I don't know because sometimes, I do think about it," Dean said.

Sam nodded. "And when you do, you think about how you don't trust me."

"Most of the time, I do trust you. I trust that you have my back no matter what. I trust that you do anything to help people. But that also means you might go to far. I also believe you're too trusting of others, like Ruby and Lucifer," Dean said honestly.

"And how is that different than you. Yeah, I trusted Ruby because she told me what I wanted to hear. I trusted her in order to save you, and it nearly cost the world. Then I nearly did it again when I unleashed Amara. But you're no different. You only had Amara's mark because you needed it to kill a Hell Knight. You let a demon possess me for months," Sam said.

"I was protecting you," Dean protested.

"Yeah, and I forgave you, despite the fact that you were never really sorry," Sam said. That always bothered Sam. Dean wasn't sorry for letting Gadreel possess him. He maintained that he'd do it again. Sam understood why he did it, and he forgave him for it, but he felt like Dean didn't really understand what he did to him.

"You want me to be sorry for saving you?" Dean asked in disbelief.

"I want you to be sorry for the result! I want you to realize what I have to live with because of it! I have nightmares about killing Kevin. I can still feel my hands sucking the life out of him," Sam said in a shaky voice.

"That wasn't your fault," Dean immediately said.

"It doesn't matter. They were my hands. I have to live with it every day. But it's not as bad as living with the fact that my brother still can't forgive me or trust me, when I've done both for hm. Or that he can forgive anyone else but me. Why is that, Dean? Why is everybody else worthy of your forgiveness but me?" Sam asked bitterly.

"I don't know. Maybe because you're my brother and I hold you to a higher standard," Dean said. He knew it wasn't right, but he also knew once he said it that it was the truth. He expected more from Sam than anyone else.

"That isn't fair," Sam said in crestfallen voice before standing up.

"Don't go, Sammy," Dean begged.

"I don't know what else there is to say, Dean. You can't forgive me, and I can't spend the rest of my life praying that you will," Sam said. He'd had enough. He loved his brother, but he just couldn't live like this anymore. It was killing him.

"Are you gonna leave?" Dean asked with fear in his voice. It sounded like that. It sounded like Sam was done. Dean flashed back once more to Lucifer warning him that Sam might hate him one day if he didn't do something to stop it. Was he too late? Had Lucifer's warning already come to pass.

"I don't know. Right now, unless I want to be miserable for the rest of my life, I don't see that I have much choice," Sam said sadly before leaving the room.

Dean covered his face with his fans in started to cry. He didn't want it to end like this, but he wasn't sure how to fix it. He didn't think he could just change who he was or how he felt, and if he couldn't, he was going to lose his brother.


	22. Chapter 22

Jack made his way towards the library where he knew his father would be. If the Piano playing wasn't enough to know where the man was, the fact that he'd told Jack where he would be was. His father had tried to talk to him earlier, but Jack was feeling really guilty and wasn't ready to talk about what happened, so the man told him to come find him in the library when he was ready.

Jack remained in the doorway, not sure how to proceed with the situation.

Lucifer noticed the moment his son entered the doorway. "There is no need to lurk, child. Come."

That was the only invitation Jack needed. He immediately made his way over and sat down at the piano next to his father.

"I presume you're ready to talk now?" Lucifer asked.

Jack nodded. "Are you still mad at me, Father?"

"I wasn't all that angry in the first place. I can understand the need to sulk. It is every child's right from time to time. However, I could not abide by the disrespect you showed a man who had only ever been kind to you," Lucifer said sternly.

Jack looked down shamefully. "I know I shouldn't have said what I did."

"I'm glad to hear that, and I can tell you were sincere. You have apologized, and I have punished you. There's no reason to dwell on it further. I would like to explain to you why I did not allow you to come with us," Lucifer said.

"Uncle Gabriel explained it. He said you were trying to protect me. He said you see me as a child," Jack said.

"You are a child, Jack. I know that seems untrue to you because of how old you look, but the truth is, you have been in this world for merely a few months," Lucifer said.

Jack nodded reluctantly. "Um, Uncle Gabriel says you want me to go live with you when you leave."

Lucifer sighed. He was bit annoyed that Gabriel had told Jack that. He wanted them to know each other just a little better before he sprung that fact on the boy. But if Gabriel told Jack, Lucifer had no doubt that he had a good reason. "Yes. You are my son. Naturally, I want you to live with me."

"I thought you were just going to leave without me," Jack admitted.

"I told you I would not abandon you."

"I know. I just didn't consider that you'd want me to come with you when you left. What about the others? You're my father, but I think of them as my family too," Jack said.

"Jack, I want your word that you will speak of what I'm about to say to you to no one," Lucifer said in a firm tone.

"I promise."

"I am expecting that Sam will be joining us when we leave. As for Castiel, he is welcome to come see you whenever he wishes, and if you wish to see him, I will be more than willing to make arrangements," Lucifer said.

"Sam's coming with us? Why? Why would he want to leave his home?" Jack wondered. He would of course be glad if Sam came, but he just didn't understand why he would.

"It is complicated, and he has not yet said that he would, but I believe it will happen," Lucifer said.

"What about Dean? You said I could still see Castiel, but you didn't mention Dean," Jack said.

Lucifer sighed somewhat dramatically. "If you truly must, but only if his attitude changes. I'll not allow him to keep upsetting you."

"H…he doesn't upset me," Jack lied. The truth was, Dean was upsetting him lately with how much he went after Jack's father. He also upset him before Castiel came back when he spoke of how evil he was. But Jack knew Dean was a good person, and he liked him.

Lucifer took on a stern, parental look. "Do not lie to me, Jack, even if it's to protect someone else. I will not tolerate it."

Jack quickly nodded. "Sorry."

"It's alright. I just need you to understand that I expect you to be truthful. In return, I will never lie to you, even if I feel that a lie would make you feel better," Lucifer told him.

"Okay. I promise I won't lie to you," Jack swore. "So, when would we be leaving? Will it be soon?"

"Well, it would've been if a new problem with an alternate universe version of my brother hadn't presented itself," Lucifer grumbled.

"Are you going to let him out? Your brother from this reality?" Jack asked.

Lucifer huffed unhappily. "It doesn't seem like I have much choice in that aspect. As much as I wish it were different, it seems I need the bloody bastard."

"Why do you hate your brother?" Jack asked curiously.

"Because he betrayed me. He took our father's side over mine. Most did, but Michael went further than that. He cast me out. He personally sent me to Hell and didn't blink an eye when she was ordered to do it, and he's lobbied since then to have me killed. He nearly ruined Sam's life to do so, and almost destroyed the world, all because Father wrote it down as one of his plans. Plus, he's just a sanctimonious bastard," Lucifer said. He really hated Michael, more than anyone else, with the only exception being his father. He'd completely turned on him. He acted like Lucifer was the worst kind of filth simply because he wanted the right to make his own decisions.

"I'm sorry. I understand why you wouldn't want him out," Jack said.

"That's not why. I hate Michael, but my hatred isn't the reason. I don't want him out because I don't trust him. I have no idea what he'll do once it's all over. For all I know, he'll pick up where he left off, which would not help anyone in the slightest," Lucifer explained.

"What will you do if he does what you fear?" Lucifer asked.

"I will ensure that he doesn't," Lucifer swore. He was not going to let Michael become a threat. If it even looked like he would, he would stop him.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gabriel was walking by Sam's room on his way to his own when he heard the muffled sounds of cries. He tentatively opened the door and saw Sam on his bed with his head buried in his hands. "Sam?"

Sam immediately looked up and rubbed his eyes. He spoke as if nothing was wrong. "Hey. Everything okay?"

"I think that's what I should be asking right now. What's wrong?" Gabriel asked. He shut the door and walked over to Sam.

"Nothing. I'm fine," Sam lied.

"Liar. Even if I didn't just hear you, I'd be able to tell by the look on your face," Gabriel said. Sam had that miserable puppy dog look. It was the same look he'd had during Mystery Spot. It was a killer. "What did your douche of a brother say?"

Sam sighed. "He all but admitted that he's never forgiven me for the apocalypse."

"Are you sure he said that he didn't forgive you? Maybe your reading into it," Gabriel said. He doubted it, but he wanted to believe for Sam's sake that Dean wasn't a total dick.

Sam shook his head. "He said that he didn't know if he'd forgiven me. If he doesn't know, it means he hasn't. If he hasn't forgiven me after eight years, he never will."

"Then he's an idiot. You made stupid choices at the time, but the majority of the apocalypse was on Michael and his band of idiots! The little moron should know that! Furthermore, if he wants to go blaming you, he should remember that his dumbass played a part too!" Gabriel fumed. He'd never liked Dean, and this was why. He was a judgmental little asshole! Yes, Gabriel had blamed Sam a bit for his choices as well, but that was mostly because he'd tried to warn Sam and he wouldn't listen. He got over it though. He realized that nothing was going to stop Michael from getting what he wanted. Michael was the one to blame. Well, and their father.

"I made stupid decisions. I know that I am at least partially responsible for what happened, but I tried to make it right. I tried to do good. I've done everything I can to make it right," Sam said miserably.

"I know," Gabriel said softly before sitting down on the edge of the bed next to the hunter.

"I knew deep down that he'd never forgiven me, but I ignored it because I knew I wouldn't be able to come back from it if I heard the words. You know, I've forgiven Dean for everything he's ever done to me. He tricked me into getting possessed and I still forgave him because I got why he did it," Sam explained.

"He what?" Gabriel asked with a small edge to his voice.

Sam quickly explained taking on the trials to shut the gates of Hell and Dean getting Gadreel to possess him as a result. He then explained everything that happened when Gadreel was inside him.

"That little bastard!" Gabriel yelled angrily. "My father made it so angels have to get consent to possess a human for a reason! He wanted angels to be different from demons. Your brother flouted all of that!"

"He was trying to save me. I didn't want to be saved like that, and it pissed me off when I realized, but I forgave him because I know what it means to do whatever it takes to save your brother. But I still have to live with the consequences of that choice. I still have to live with someone I cared about dying at my hands," Sam explained.

"It wasn't your fault," Gabriel said.

"I know, but it doesn't matter. He still died by my hands. It's not the point though. The point is Dean doesn't see us as equal. I forgive him every time, but he doesn't feel he can do the same with me. I can't keep living like this, Gabriel. I can't keep sitting here on eggshells waiting for something that won't ever happen," Sam said near tears.

"You shouldn't have to," Gabriel said.

"I…I just can't do it anymore. I can't stay," Sam cried.

Gabriel hesitantly went to touch him. He wasn't sure if Sam would want him to, and he also was still kind of hesitant to touch people or let people touch him, but Sam needed comfort. He helped Sam lay down and ran a hand through his hair as he cried.


	23. Chapter 23

The next morning, Gabriel made his way to the kitchen. He found Lucifer there with Lucifer, Jack, Castiel, and Dean, who looked like he most likely spent the night in a bottle. Gabriel glared momentarily at Dean before going over to his brothers and nephew.

"Morning, brother. I take it you didn't sleep well. You look like Hell," Lucifer said before pouring a cup of coffee and handing it to his younger brother. His brother's power had increased, but he was still low on Grace, which meant he still needed things such as food and sleep.

"Thanks. No, I didn't. I spent the night with Sam," Gabriel said. He'd spent the night trying to comfort Sam, and thinking of new ways to torture Dean Winchester. He hadn't slept much, and what little sleep he was able to get was plagued with dreams about Hell.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Really? You two moved much faster than I anticipated.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant, dumbass. And what do you mean it was faster than you anticipated?"

"I believe my words were simple enough to understand," Lucifer said.

"Is Sam alright? I saw him last night as I went to my room. He looked upset?" Jack said.

"What is wrong with Sam?" Castiel wondered. He thought things would be better for Sam once he and Dean talked things out.

"Ask your bestie over there," Gabriel said with another glare in Dean's direction.

Dean clenched his hands into fists. He knew he was to blame for Sam's pain, but he didn't need to be judged by an asshole archangel. Plus, he was hungover, so that added to his temper.

"Dean, I thought you and Sam were going to talk," Castiel said.

"We did. It didn't go well," Dean said.

"Yeah, most people don't take it well when they find out they're still being judged for something that happened nearly a decade earlier," Gabriel sneered.

Lucifer shook his head. "Unfortunately, I can't say that surprises me. We're talking about a miniature Michael."

Dean looked up and glared at the Devil. "Hey! This is none of your business, so keep your damn comments to yourself!"

"Perhaps not, but I've been where Sam is. I've been judged for mistakes that weren't all mine. I find it unfortunate that he has to suffer because his brother is a sanctimonious dick. But no matter. He's better off knowing now and getting away from you. You're the one who will suffer in the long run," Lucifer said.

Sam soon made his way into the room. "Morning, Everyone."

"Good morning, Sam," Castiel said.

"Hey, Sam, maybe we should try to talk some more," Dean said. He really wanted to make things right, though he didn't know how. He couldn't lie to Sam, but he didn't want him to hate him.

"I don't think there's much else to say," Sam said shortly before turning his attention to the others. "Has there been any consensus come to on letting Michael out of the cage."

"Yes. Unfortunately, I must admit that you were all right. We need the bastard," Lucifer grudgingly admitted.

"He's not staying here," Dean snapped. It was bad enough that he had to put up with Lucifer, Gabriel, and sometimes even a demon there. He wasn't putting up with the leader of the angel douches.

"Dean…" Castiel started.

"No, I agree with him for once. I would rather have as little contact with him as possible, and I don't want him around Jack," Lucifer said.

"You think he'd try to hurt me?" Jack asked.

"I won't risk it. You're my son, and he considers me a monster. Plus, Nephilim in general are forbidden. I will be speaking to Amenadiel about conditions before we leave," Lucifer said.

As if on cue, Amenadiel appeared at that moment. "Hey."

"Excellent timing, brother," Lucifer said. "We were just discussing the situation regarding our unfortunate brother."

"So, then you've decided to do what needs to be done?" Amenadiel asked.

Lucifer sighed. "Provided that my terms are met. I will not simply release him without some assurances. The main one is that you are responsible for the ponce. I want little to nothing to do with him."

"I second that," Gabriel piped up.

"I assumed as much. The plan was to take him back to Heaven immediately. Heaven can use all the angels it can get right now, and if he's in a bad way, it's the best place for him anyway," Amenadiel said.

"Good. He wasn't going to be allowed to stay here. I don't want him around my son. I have one more condition, which you won't like. You will take over Heaven until Father deems it necessary to return. We can't have another possible apocalypse on our hands if the idiot is allowed control," Lucifer said. Normally, he wouldn't care who had control of Heaven, but if Michael was let loose, there was the possibility that he'd have to clean up whatever mess was made.

Amenadiel sighed. "I'd already resigned myself to that. Letting Michael take the reigns was a mistake. I will correct it."

"Good. I suppose that's all," Lucifer said.

"Wait," Sam said, getting the attention of both archangels. "Our brother, Adam, is trapped in there with Michael. You'll release him too, right?"

Dean froze. He couldn't believe it, but he'd forgotten about Adam. This was there chance. They could bring him home again and try to fix things.

"Bloody hell. Of course. No human soul should ever be trapped in there," Lucifer said.

"Thank you," Sam said.

"Are we ready?" Amenadiel asked.

"Yes. We should go before I change my mind," Lucifer said before grabbing onto his brother's shoulder. Within seconds, they disappeared.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Lucifer led the way into the Cage. It was big as far as cages went. It was the size of a small mansion.

Amenadiel was behind him admiring the craftsmanship. Wow, Luci, this looks pretty flawless. You did well with this thing."

"It was meant to be, but everything, even this, has flaws," Lucifer said as he walked around looking for Michael. He finally found him a few minutes later on the floor by one of the walls. He was staring off into space with a dreamy smile on his face. "Well, it certainly seems like he's insane."

Hearing Lucifer's voice, Michael turned to see his brothers. He stood up and launched himself at him and hugged him. "Samael! It's so good to see you!"

Lucifer stiffened and gaped in shock. "Now I'm certain of it. Amenadiel, remove him from my person before I kill him."

Amenadiel firmly pulled his twin off their little brother. "Michael, are you okay?"

"I'm great! Amenadiel, is that you? Are we going home now?" Michael asked.

"Uh, yeah," Amenadiel said. He didn't know what else to say. He knew it was likely Michael had lost touch with reality, but he wasn't expecting this. Michael had actually hugged Lucifer and called him by the name he used to have. Had his brother lost or suppressed his memories or something? Perhaps his mind chose to remember a happier time.

"Not yet. I want to speak to your human host," Lucifer told Michael.

"Why, Samael?" Michael asked.

"Do not call me that! Just let me talk to the boy. We will not leave until I speak with him," Lucifer warned.

Suddenly, Michael's cheerful features disappeared, and confusion and fear took its place. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"You're Adam, yes?" Lucifer asked.

"Who are you?" Adam asked.

"I am Lucifer. Do not fear. I am not the one you've met, if you ever met it. I mean you no harm. Quite the opposite actually. I am here to release you, but I need to know where to do it. I can allow you to return to Earth, or my brother can send you to Heaven. I understand that you may not wish to remain living after spending so much time trapped in your own body, and in this place as well," Lucifer said.

"He should be sent to Heaven. He's already died once. Michael ripped him out of his Heaven," Amenadiel said sadly.

"He deserves to decide after all of this," Lucifer said.

"I can really leave here. I can go back and be with my mom? That's what I want. I want to go back and be with her again. Send me to Heaven, please," Adam begged.

"Very well," Lucifer said.

"Michael, I know you can hear me. Do not fight," Amenadiel said before placing a hand to the young man's head. A light left him and traveled upward.

Michael soon returned and smiled. "Now can we go home?"

"Let's go," Lucifer said.

Amenadiel took ahold of both of them and flew them away.


	24. Chapter 24

Gabriel found Sam alone in the library, probably reading up on opening portals again. He immediately went and sat down next to the hunter. "Hey, kiddo. How are you doing?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders. "I'm okay. Thank you for helping me last night. You shouldn't have had to do that."

"I didn't have to. I wanted to. You've been there for me in every way you cold since Lucifer and Amenadiel brought me back. I wanted to return the favor. I wanted to help you. I still do," Gabriel said.

"I'm not sure what to do, Gabriel. I can't stay here anymore. That's pretty obvious. Even if maybe I deserve some of it, I can't let Dean keep beating me up over what happened," Sam said.

"You do not deserve it!" Gabriel said firmly. He wasn't going to let Dean's stupidity continue to destroy Sam's self-esteem. That was bad enough already.

Sam simply shrugged in response. "I don't know where to go. I mean, I guess I can just hunt on my own for a while, but I don't think I really want to."

"Well, Luci says LA's pretty cool. I've been a few times. It's not bad. You could join us," Gabriel said. He tried hard to seem nonchalant about it, but he was really hoping Sam agreed to come.

That was actually really appealing to Sam. He hadn't liked that Gabriel would be leaving with Lucifer without him, even if he knew it was best for Gabriel. He didn't want to lose him. Still, Sam wasn't sure he should go with them. "I don't know. I can't really afford a place, and I don't want to be a burden on Lucifer."

Gabriel was about to respond when he heard footsteps enter the room. He turned to see Jack. "Hey, kid."

"Father's back," Jack said.

Sam and Gabriel immediately got up and followed Jack down to the kitchen. Dean, Castiel, Lucifer, and Maze were there.

"How'd go?" Gabriel asked.

"Unpleasantly," Lucifer said flatly.

"Where's Adam?" Dean demanded to know.

"Amenadiel sent his soul to Heaven," Lucifer said.

"What? What the hell? You were supposed to bring him back to us!" Dean said heatedly.

"I agreed to nothing of the sort. I said I'd release his soul from the Cage. I did as agreed. I spoke with Adam. I asked him what he wanted. He wanted to go to Heaven to be with his mother," Lucifer explained.

"So, you just let him die?!" Dean yelled.

"Your brother was already dead. He died the moment he entered that cage. Actually, from what I've been told, he died before then. He was brought back as a means to an end, and then trapped in his own body by an archangel, who used him as a means to an end. He'd been through enough, don't you agree?" Lucifer asked.

"He's right, Dean. Adam didn't want to be here," Sam said. Honestly, he never thought Lucifer was going to bring Adam back. He always assumed he'd just let his soul move on. That was what was in Adam's best interests. He'd suffered enough.

Dean rounded on his brother. "You're saying it's good that he's dead?! We could've helped him. We could've showed him what having brothers means."

Sam laughed bitterly. "We don't even know what that means anymore, Dean. Just let it be. Adam is where he wants to be."

"So, what about Michael. You said it wasn't' pleasant. I take it things didn't go well with him?" Gabriel asked.

"You could say that. He's bloody insane," Lucifer said.

"Did he attack you?" Sam asked.

"No, he hugged me!" Lucifer said in disbelief. He still couldn't get over it. The bastard had hugged him like nothing had ever happened between them, like the ponce hadn't sent him to Hell.

Maze laughed at Lucifer's expense. "That's just great!"

"Shut up, Maze," Lucifer said with a scowl.

Gabriel let out a smirk. "Wow. He must be crazy."

"I think he's suppressed his memory or something. He called me Samael," Lucifer said.

"Who the hell is Samael?" Dean asked.

Sam was the one who answered. "Some of the texts I was looking at when I did research on Lucifer said that Samael was his real name. It was changed after he fell. I guess that's true."

"Mostly true," Lucifer corrected. "I actually changed my name before I was sent to Hell. When I started my rebellion, I decided to make a statement. I wanted my father to know I wasn't going to be one of his puppets anymore. The first step was rejecting the name he gave me."

"Your real name is Sam?" Dean asked as he glanced at his brother. It was insanely creepy that his brother had such a similar name to the angel that was supposed to be destined to possess him, not to mention having the same name as the actual Devil.

"Merely a coincidence," Lucifer said.

"Albeit a very funny one," Gabriel said.

"Anyway, I wouldn't say it was my real name, just the one I used to go by. My name is Lucifer," he said.

"It really pissed the old man off when you changed it," Gabriel said.

Lucifer smirked happily. That had been his intention, and he had been thrilled by how much it worked.+

"If I recall, Mom wasn't too thrilled at first either," he continued.

"Mom? You have a mom?" Sam asked in disbelief.

Dean was also shocked. His jaw looked like it was about to hit the floor. He'd never heard of angels having a mother. Then again, he'd never heard about God having a sister until it happened.

"Of course. Everyone's got a mom, Sammy," Gabriel said.

Dean turned to Castiel. "Did you know you had a mother?"

"Of course," Castiel said as if it were obvious. After all, who could not know they had a mother.

"You never mentioned it," Dean said, a bit irritated.

"It wasn't pertinent," Castiel said.

"Of course, it was. During the apocalypse, you went around searching for God to stop it. Didn't it ever occur to you that your Mom could? I mean, she's probably pretty strong, right? She's married to Chuck," Dean said.

"She would not have helped," Castiel said confidently.

Gabriel laughed. "Oh, she would've. She would've stopped Michael and Lucifer from killing each other, but she probably would've looked for another way to create destruction. Mom isn't a big fan of humanity." He was gone by the time his mother got sent to Hell, but he heard about it through Angel Radio. One couldn't ignore it when his mother was imprisoned for trying to ruin Dad's favorite toys.

"Mother actually was locked in a cage in Hell. She tried to destroy all you, and Dad was less than pleased," Lucifer said.

"She's still there," Gabriel said sadly. His mother could be incredibly scary, and he didn't agree with her actions, but she was still his mother. He missed her.

"Actually, she's not. Clip notes version, I died for a few short moments a few months ago and ended up back in Hell. Dad showed me her empty cell and brought me back. The bastard wants me to find her and lock her up again. At least, that's my understanding of it," Lucifer explained.

Gabriel gaped in shock. "Oh, Dad. She's out."

"Wait, are you saying we got another problem even after Michael is taken care of?" Dean asked. He was about to freaking lose it. Threats just kept piling up.

"No, I have another problem. My mother would destroy you from a thousand feet away without lifting a finger," Lucifer said.

"I need a drink," Dean said before heading for the fridge.

"Don't we all," Lucifer said before pulling a flask from his pocket and taking a swig.

"Father, is your mom nice? I mean to her family?" Jack asked. He wondered if he'd ever meet her, and if she'd like him if he did.

Lucifer snorted. "The woman did nothing while my father sent me to Hell, so, I'm going to have to say no. But do not fret. If I get my way, you'll never meet her. You'll never meet either of my parents if I can help it."

"Luci, can we talk for a minute?" Gabriel asked.

Lucifer nodded and led the way from the room. "What is it, little brother? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, but I need a favor. Look, Sam isn't comfortable staying here anymore. Things with his asshat of a brother just get worse every day," Gabriel said.

"I've noticed," Lucifer said with a smirk. He knew where this was going. He'd seen it coming since just after saving Gabriel.

"I offered Sam to come with us when we leave, but I think he's worried about not being welcome," Gabriel said.

"Ridiculous. I actually like Sam. He reminds me of myself. It will be a tight fit. I'll need to find a bigger place," Lucifer said. As much as he loved his penthouse, it wasn't big enough for all of them. Even with Maze moving out, as she was planning, it was still four people.

"See, Sam's not gonna like that. He's not gonna like that he's forcing you to leave," Gabriel said.

"He's not. I was already going to have to with just you and Jack. It isn't a big deal," Lucifer said.

"Thanks, bro. He probably wouldn't even be living with us long. He'll probably want to move as soon as he finds a job and gains his footing," Gabriel said.

"I can help with that. I can always use a new bartender for the club, especially since Maze has quit."

"Great. Thanks again," Gabriel said before leaving the room with a huge grin on his face.

Lucifer smiled. He hadn't seen his brother that happy in eons. Sam would make Gabriel happy, Lucifer was sure, and he would make sure of that by having a little talk with hunter very soon. He liked Sam, but he was still going to ensure that he treated his brother right.


	25. Chapter 25

Sam walked into the library and found Lucifer at his usual spot at the piano. Sam had just gotten back from going grocery shopping, and Cas had told him that Lucifer wanted to see him when he returned. "Hey, Lucifer. Cas gave me your message."

Lucifer stopped playing and stepped away from the piano. He went over to a nearby table, where a bottle of Scotch and two glasses sat. "Do you drink Scotch?"

Sam found himself a bit nervous. This meeting was clearly thought through, and it clearly was a serious one. "Not really. Beer and Vodka are usually what I go for, and Vodka is rare."

"I prefer Scotch. It's more upscale. Of course, Vodka will do if there's nothing else," Lucifer said as he poured two glasses.

"What's this about?" Sam asked nervously.

Lucifer smirked and handed him a drink. "No need to be nervous, Sam. Well, so long as you continue to be the upstanding man I've witnessed over the last few weeks."

Somehow Lucifer's words didn't make him feel better. He wasn't sure why, but this felt like the beginning of a very lengthy interrogation. "What do you mean?"

"We'll get to that. First, I wanted you to know that I've spoken with Gabriel. He mentioned that he asked you to come to LA with us after alternate reality Michael is dealt with and your mother is rescued," Lucifer said.

"Look, Lucifer, it's alright. Gabriel was just trying to help, but I have no intention of forcing myself…"

Lucifer cut him off abruptly with a raise of the hand. "The request was not a surprising one. I've seen it coming for a while now, much longer than Gabriel has."

"What?" Sam asked caught off guard.

"I'm very observant, Sam. I make sure to know what is going on around me. Plus, I'd have to be incredibly stupid not to see the way your brother acts. I know from experience one can only put up with that for so long. Of course, that had very little to do with how I knew you'd becoming with us. Aside from myself and Amenadiel, no one worried about Gabriel more than you." Lucifer said.

"I don't understand what that has…"

"What do you desire, Sam?" Lucifer asked as he walked up to him. He made sure Sam was looking at him directly in the eyes.

Sam looked straight at Lucifer, and found himself compelled to answer. "I want to be with Gabriel. I want to go with him and I want to have a normal life with him. Well, as normal as we can anyway. I don't want to hunt anymore. I want to put down roots. I want to be happy with your brother."

Lucifer nodded and took a step back. "I thought so."

Sam felt like he'd just come out of a trance. He immediately glared at Lucifer. "What the hell did you just do?"

"Forgive me. I needed to be sure," Lucifer said before taking a seat. "As for what I did, I simply urged you to tell me what you truly wanted. Bringing out a person's desire is a gift that I have."

"I've never known any other angel to do that before," Sam said.

"That's because no other angel can do it. It is unique to me. Please, sit down," Lucifer said, though his voice made it very clear that it wasn't really a request.

Sam felt nervous again as he did as the archangel asked. The tone of voice Lucifer used made him shiver a little. It felt like an interrogation again. It felt almost like his first date. The girl's father had interrogated him for almost an hour. That's what this felt like, only worse because he was being interrogated by the actual Devil. Lucifer might be more mellow than the thing that had impersonated him, and even most other angels, but there was no doubt in Sam's mind that he could still be lethal.

"I didn't really need my gift to know you loved my brother. It was obvious to me only days after seeing you with Gabriel," Lucifer said.

"Y…you haven't told Gabriel, have you?" Sam asked nervously. He really didn't want Gabriel to know about it. He didn't want the rejection he was sure he'd receive.

"Of course not. You'll tell him yourself," Lucifer said before taking a sip of his drink. It wasn't his place to tell Gabriel how Sam felt, no more than it was for him to tell Sam that he was pretty sure Gabriel reciprocated his feelings. Why else would Gabriel plead with him to allow Sam to come with them?

"I…I don't think I can. He's not gonna feel the same way," Sam said.

"How do you know? You haven't tried to find out. Grow a pair and find out for certain," Lucifer said strongly.

Sam opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"You'll do it, I'm sure, though I fear you'll do so at an agonizingly slow pace. That's your prerogative, I suppose. Here's mine though. Gabriel is my baby brother, and I will protect him at all costs, especially given everything that's happened to him. I like you, Sam, but if any pain comes to my brother by your hand, they will never find what's left of you," Lucifer said in a dark tone.

Sam gulped, having no problem believing that Lucifer was being literal. "Understood."

"Excellent! I look forward to you joining us in LA then," Lucifer said.

Just then, Amenadiel appeared. "Hey."

"Brother, I wasn't expecting you back so soon," Amenadiel said.

"Well, I had a few free moments. Michael's being examined," Amenadiel said.

"Is he as crazy as Lucifer says?" Sam asked.

"Oh, yeah. He hugged every single angel that he saw. There was one that I think would've wet his pants if he was actually capable of it," Amenadiel said.

"Bloody hell! What happened to him down there?" Lucifer asked in disbelief.

"I think he's regressed to a happier time," Amenadiel said.

Just then, Gabriel, Dean and Castiel entered the room.

"Anyway, Naomi is looking through his mind.

"Naomi?" Castiel asked in a horrified voice, causing everyone to turn to him. "She's dead."

"No, she isn't. She just sort of went into hiding for a while. Listen, Castiel, I know how you feel, but we can't exactly be picky about what angels we let back into the fold. There are so few of us that it's taking a toll on Heaven. Michael and I being back has helped considerably though."

"That bitch tortured Cas!" Dean said angrily.

"I'm aware. I don't condone it, but we have no choice right now. Plus, she's the only one there who might be able to figure out what's going through Michael's mind. We need to get him healed as quickly as possible," Amenadiel said.

Lucifer looked at Sam. "You were there with him. Could you possibly shed some light on his condition?"

Sam shook his head. "I had my hands full at the time. That thing was making life hell for me. I don't even remember seeing much of Michael after we fell. The last I remember, he had a panicked look on his face after hitting the ground. Then he looked like he was trying to pray. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Sam. You were being tortured. Of course, you weren't paying attention to the asshat archangel trapped down there with you," Gabriel said.

"Yes, he's right. I simply wanted to ask in case you did notice. I knew it was a long shot," Lucifer said.

"So we just have to wait for that crazy ass angel to work her magic," Dean said.

"Essentially," Amenadiel said.

"Can we do anything in the meantime?" Sam asked.

"Other then continuing the search for ways into alternate universes, I don't think. I should go back and check on Michael. I'll check in when I can," Amenadiel said before leaving.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Amenadiel returned home seconds after leaving the bunker and saw Naomi continuing her work. "Can you tell me anything?"

Michael turned when he heard his brother's voice. "Amenadiel! You've come back!"

"This isn't going to stop being weird," Amenadiel said to himself. He didn't like Michael this nice and cheerful. It was very disconcerting.

"I concur with you on that, brother. This is profoundly strange," Naomi said.

Amenadiel motioned for her to follow him out of the room. "Did you discover anything?"

"Yes. He was tortured, excruciatingly. Once Sam Winchester was out of its reach, that being must have decided to take its anger out on the only occupant of the Cage," Naomi said.

"But Michael is strong. His power is matched with my own. He must have been stronger than that abomination," Amenadiel said. He was confused. He didn't understand how that thing could beat Michael.

"But we don't know how that cage could affect an angel's power. It may have stifled some of his power," Naomi said.

Amenadiel nodded. "If he was tortured so relentlessly, why'd he hug Lucifer? He thought Lucifer was his tormentor. You'd think he'd shy away from him."

"I can't say for certain why he hugged him, but he may be confused. He's been asking for Samael," Naomi said.

"Yes, that's what he called Lucifer when we released him," Amenadiel commented.

"I think Michael may be confused because the difference in Lucifer's Grace and that of the being he created. I can only guess that the two felt different," Naomi said.

"They did. Are you saying you think Michael considers Lucifer and Samael two separate individuals?" Amenadiel asked in disbelief. That sounded crazy to him, but then again, Michael was far from sane right now.

"I don't know for certain. I'm far from a human psychologist, but it seems plausible," Naomi said.

"Well, I'm going to find out for certain," Amenadiel said before going back in. Naomi followed him. "Michael?"

Michael turned and smiled. "Hi, Amenadiel. Where is everyone? There aren't many angels here. Where'd they all go?"

"It's a long story. We can talk about it later. Listen, I wanted to ask you some questions, okay?" Amenadiel asked.

"Okay."

"I need to know what you remember about Lucifer," Amenadiel said.

Michael's happy smile disappeared and in its place was a mixture of fear and anger. "I don't want to talk about him! Don't bring him up!"

"Okay, I'm sorry, Michael. I don't want to scare you," Amenadiel said.

"He's evil, Amenadiel! You can't mention him anymore!" Michael said. His hands were shaking, and he looked like he was about to have a breakdown.

"Okay, I'm sorry. What about Samael?" Amenadiel asked.

Michael calmed down and smiled again. "Okay, we can talk about Samael. Where is he? I wanna see him."

"So Samael isn't evil?" Amenadiel asked.

Michael gasped as if his twin had said the worst thing in the world. "No! Don't ever say that! Samael's our brother! Our brother isn't evil!"

"Your right, brother. Thank you," Michael said before going over to Naomi. "It seems that your theory was correct. Can you do anything?"

"I'm no healer, Amenadiel. I can pinpoint what happened to him, and I have, but I can't heal the mess that is his mind," Naomi said.

"I'm going to have to find someone that can then," Amenadiel said. He did know someone who might be able to help. The problem was that it was going to take time. It wouldn't be quick solution. And Amenadiel wasn't sure how much time they actually had.


	26. Chapter 26

Sam walked into the kitchen and found Gabriel and Jack there. Gabriel was at the stove cooking and Jack was sitting at the table watching. "Hey, guys."

Jack turned to him first. "Hi, Sam. Uncle Gabriel is making lunch."

"You don't have to do that, Gabriel. You're a guest here." Sam said as he walked over to him.

Gabriel waved the comment off. "Most have taken their turn in the kitchen. Luci made dinner for everyone last night. It's only fair that I take a turn."

"Well, thanks, but I don't want you to feel obligated," Sam said.

"I don't," was all Gabriel said.

"How do you and Father know how to cook so well when you don't need to eat. That's why Castiel says he doesn't know how," Jack said.

"Your dad has needed to eat in the past, before his Grace was restored. He eats now, just like I always have because the food is great. It may not be necessary, but we love it," Gabriel explained.

"What are you making?" Sam asked.

"Burgers," Gabriel said.

Just then, Amenadiel appeared out of nowhere. He wasn't alone.

"Adam," Sam said as soon as he saw the form of his younger brother with Amenadiel. It only took him seconds after he uttered the name to realize that it was not actually his brother. It was Michael.

Sam practically sprinted over to Jack. He pulled the boy up and pushed him behind him.

"Sam, what's wrong?" Jack asked.

"Amenadiel, what the hell were you thinking?" Gabriel asked. His eyes were trained on Michael as he spoke.

Michael, meanwhile, smiled and approached his little brother. "Gabriel!"

Gabriel didn't even have time to register what was happening before his older brother put his arms around him. Immediately, Gabriel started to panic. He didn't like being touched. The only kind of touch he'd known was pain for so long. He didn't let anyone put Lucifer and Sam touch him, and even then, he freaked out at times if he didn't see it coming.

"Let him go! You're freaking him out!" Sam yelled. He went up to them while keeping a good eye on Jack as well.

Amenadiel went over and pulled Michael off their little brother. "Michael, stop."

Gabriel backed up several feet and started breathing heavily.

Sam went over to him. "Hey. It's okay."

"Don't touch me!" Gabriel yelled as he back up.

Sam put his hands up so that Gabriel could see them. "I won't unless you say it's okay. I just want you to know you're safe. No one's gonna hurt you."

Gabriel began to calm down as he realized who was speaking to him. For a second, he'd forgotten who was there with him. He just felt like he was going to suffocate. But now that he had a little space and heard Sam's words, he was starting to come back to reality. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault," Sam said.

"What's wrong with Gabriel," Michael asked. He tried to go over to his brother, but Amenadiel was holding him back.

Just then, Lucifer, Dean and Castiel made it into the room. Dean was the first to speak. "What the hell is…? Adam?"

"No, that isn't Adam?" Castiel said.

"Jack, come here, now!" Lucifer told his son.

Jack walked over. "That's your brother, Michael, right?" Jack asked.

Lucifer gently took his son by the arm and pulled behind him. He then turned his attention to his two older brothers and glared murderously. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you?! I told you I didn't want him here, Amenadiel! I was quite clear on my conditions for releasing him!"

"I had no choice, brother," Amenadiel said.

"You had no choice but to bring this dick into my house?!" Dean asked angrily.

Gabriel, who had finally recovered fully from his panic attack, was watching as Michael pulled out of Amenadiel's arms and backed away from all of them. "Guys."

"You brought him here where my son is! You have placed him in danger!" Lucifer yelled.

Michael brought his hands up to his ears and started to whimper.

"We both know what he could and would do to a Nephilim!" Lucifer continued loudly.

"Guys, stop!" Gabriel yelled at them, causing everyone to turn to him. He then tentatively took a few steps towards Michael "Michael, are you alright."

"Don't like yelling. Make it stop!" Michael cried as he slid to the floor.

Gabriel could barely comprehend what he was seeing. His older brother was breaking down much like he had a few minutes ago. Actually, it might even be worse than he had. It was unbelievable. He had never seen Michael lose control of himself even once. Something bad had happened to him in that cage, and Gabriel was sure it was very much like what he'd gone through himself. "No one's yelling anymore."

Amenadiel walked over as well. "Michael, we're sorry. We didn't mean to upset you."

"Speak for yourself," Dean mumbled.

Lucifer stood there silently. Like Gabriel, he was more than a bit shocked by what he was seeing. This was unlike Michael. Yes, he was sort of insane, so that made sense, but Lucifer hadn't expected a meltdown.

Michael calmed down after a minute or two and stood up with the help of his twin. "Don't yell. Yelling means pain. I don't want that."

"There won't be any pain, Michael," Gabriel said reassuringly. He hadn't liked Michael for a long time, but he was still his brother, so he still loved him, and he could sympathize with whatever Michael had been through.

Amenadiel turned to Lucifer. "Lu… Samael, can we speak outside." He knew his brother would be pissed at the use of his former name, but he really didn't want to face another meltdown with Michael by calling him Lucifer.

Lucifer narrowed his eyes at his brother. He hated that name and Amenadiel knew it. What was he playing at by using it now? It had to have something to do with Michael, that much Lucifer knew, but it didn't mean he wasn't pissed about it.

"Go ahead. We'll stay with Michael. Though, Sam, you, Dean, and Jack might want to join them," Gabriel said. He didn't really want Sam in the same room with Michael. Michael was unpredictable right now. He was certainly a danger to humans. Hell, he was even when his mind was intact. And he would certainly be a danger to a Nephilim.

"No, I'm staying with you," Sam said. He wasn't leaving Gabriel alone with an archangel he knew was dangerous.

"I'm not going anywhere," Dean said firmly as well.

"Jack, come with me," Lucifer said before pulling his son from the room. He trusted that the others would do their best to protect Jack, but he didn't feel comfortable with his son being in a room without him while Michael was there, especially when Michael was in that room as well.

Amenadiel followed them. They walked through the bunker and entered an empty room so they wouldn't be overheard. "Look, I know you don't want him here, but I had no other choice. Things are worse than I thought."

"Yes, I can see that. All the more reason for him not to be around humans or my son," Lucifer said.

"Luci, his mind is broken. He was tortured in the Cage. Naomi said it was quite severe. I think it might even be worse than what Gabriel went through, and we both know that's saying a lot," Amenadiel said.

"Why did you call me 'Samael'?" Lucifer asked.

"Because Michael would've freaked out if I'd used your other name. He's terrified of it," Amenadiel said.

"Terrified of me? The bastard hugged me when we released him," Lucifer said skeptically.

"No. To him, you're Samael. He's afraid of Lucifer, the person he believes tormented him," Amenadiel said.

"We're the same bloody person! Are you saying he doesn't understand that?" Lucifer asked in disbelief. That seemed ridiculous to him. Michael knew that he'd chanced his name. He knew that he, Lucifer, and Samael were the same person. Of course, with his mind being broken, anything was possible, but it meant Amenadiel was right. Michael was worse off than they thought.

"Yes. I talked to him a little about it. I asked him about Lucifer and then about Samael. There were complete opposite reactions. You are the brother he loves, and Lucifer is an evil monster," Amenadiel said.

"This is just lovely. Well, you need to fix him," Lucifer said. There was no way Michael would be able to fight in this condition. He would break at the slightest conflict, and that was the best-case scenario.

"Can you just fix someone like that?" Jack asked.

Amenadiel sighed and rolled his eyes at his brother. "No, we can't. Lucifer, maybe if we had Raphael we'd be able to heal him, but Raphael's dead. No one else has the power to instantaneously heal his mind. We're going to have to do it the old-fashioned way. I have an idea for that."

"Well, do tell," Lucifer said.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

About an hour later, Lucifer, Amenadiel, Gabriel, Sam, and Jack were in the library with Sam's computer. They were skyping with Linda from LA. Castiel and Dean were with Michael.

"Hold on. You want me to shrink your brother, who you say is insane, over the computer," Linda said slowly.

"Yes, Doctor. We need you to fix him," Lucifer said.

"I can't just 'fix' him, Lucifer! Therapy doesn't work like that," Linda said in an exasperated voice.

"Doctor, time is of the essence here," Lucifer said.

"He's right, Linda. We need Michael back to the way he was as soon as possible," Amenadiel said.

"I'm a psychiatrist. I can't simply heal people," she said.

"Well, we need you to do your best. Just bring him back to reality," Lucifer said.

"Why do I get the feeling that you don't actually care about your brother's well-being?" Linda asked. Lucifer was being very pushy, and he seemed to just care about the situation he was apparently in, not his brother's mental health.

"Because I don't," Lucifer said flatly. Yes, it was terrible that Michael was tortured, but he just couldn't bring himself to care too much about what Michael had suffered. Michael certainly didn't care about his suffering when he cast him out of his home. When he called him a monster and said they were no longer brothers.

"Lucifer, perhaps we should discuss what's going on between you and your brother," Linda said. She could tell Lucifer had a lot of anger for his brother, perhaps even more than what he demonstrated regarding his father.

"I am not the one in need of therapy right now. Your skills are needed to fix Michael. Will you do it?" Lucifer asked.

Linda sighed. "Fine. I will speak with Michael and assess him, but this is not going to be simple. This could take a long time."

"Well, it's our only option," Amenadiel said.

"I need to speak with him alone, and then I want to speak with the two of you," Linda said as she pointed her finger between Amenadiel and Lucifer. "Separately."

"Fine," Lucifer agreed reluctantly.

"I agree as well. I'll get Michael," Amenadiel said before leaving the room.


	27. Chapter 27

Amenadiel walked back in a few minutes later with Michael. He brought Michael over to the computer and pointed to the screen. "Michael, this is Doctor Linda Martin."

Michael frowned and looked at object that had the woman's face on it. "What is this machine?"

Linda frowned a bit. The man didn't know what a computer was? Well, she supposed it had to do with his break from reality. Perhaps it affected how he saw objects.

"It's a way for you to talk with someone far away. Listen, we would like you to sit down and talk with Linda," Amenadiel said.

"Why?" Michael asked. He couldn't see why he needed to talk with a human."

"Because we're telling you to!" Lucifer said irritably.

"Brother," Amenadiel admonished. He got Lucifer's anger for Michael, but it wasn't going to do them any good if their brother had another breakdown because Lucifer was too harsh.

Lucifer scowled, but forced himself to calm down and speak civilly. "We need for you to speak with Linda, Michael. We believe it will help you."

"Okay. I'll do it if you want me to," Michael said. If Samael needed him to talk to the human, he'd do it. He'd do anything for his brother, and maybe then, Samael wouldn't be so mad at him. He didn't understand why his brother was angry at him, but he knew he was.

"Go ahead and sit down," Amenadiel said.

Michael sat down in the chair in front of the human on the screen.

"Hi, Michael," Linda greeted.

"Hello," Michael said.

"We'll be outside," Amenadiel said.

"You're leaving?" Michael asked.

"We'll be outside. Linda needs to talk to you alone. We won't be far," Amenadiel promised. When Michael didn't say anything else, he started for the door. The others followed him.

"Are you comfortable, Michael?" Linda asked.

"Yes. Why do you want to talk to me?" Michael asked.

"Because your brothers want to help you feel better about things and they think I can do that better than they can," Linda said. She was pretty sure the first part was the farthest thing from the truth. Lucifer certainly didn't want to help Michael. His interest in seeing Michael return to however he was before was blatantly self-centered. Amenadiel wasn't much better. He wasn't as hostile, but his goal didn't seem to be helping his brother. "Sometimes talking to a stranger can help more than talking to family."

"I like talking to my brothers," Michael said.

"You do? Do you get along with them?" Linda asked.

"Yes. Except Samael's angry with me. I don't know why?" Michael said.

"Samael?" Linda asked. She remembered Amenadiel talking to her about lore on the Devil when he was using her to get to Lucifer. Samael was the Devil's former name. Could Michael be speaking about Lucifer. Lucifer was definitely angry at his brother. "Do you mean Lucifer?"

Michael's eyes widened in fear. He got up and jumped back a few feet. "No! He's bad. He's a monster! He's not my brother! Samael's my brother. They're not the same! They feel the same, but they're not!"

"Michael, calm down. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry," Linda said calmly. Whatever happened to Michael had caused a great deal of fear in him in regard to his brother, or at least part of his brother. It was like he'd split his brother up into two people. She needed to figure out what had happened to cause such fear. She couldn't believe Lucifer had done anything to Michael. He might make metaphors about being Hell's torturer, but they were just metaphors. She couldn't believe he'd hurt someone, especially his brother, no matter how angry he was.

"I don't want to talk about _him,"_ Michael said.

"That's okay. We don't have to. Why don't you sit down and tell me more about your brother, Samael?" Linda asked.

"Okay," Michael said before going back to his seat. "Samael's my little brother. I took care of him."

"You do?" Linda asked.

"Yes, it was my job, I loved taking care of Samael. I don't need to anymore though. He's grown up now. And he's mad at me. Do you know why?" Michael asked. He wanted to know why his little brother was so mad at him. Had he done something wrong.

"No, but I'd like to find out," Linda said. She needed to know what had transpired between these two brothers. She felt it might be the key to helping both Michael and Lucifer heal.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Everyone was standing several feet outside the library as Michael was having his session with Linda. They were all waiting to see what came out of it.

Dean finally spoke up after a long silence. "Does anyone else think this idea is more insane than Michael? Psychotherapy for an archangel?"

"Have you got a better idea?" Lucifer asked testily.

"Lucifer, I see Dean's point. What good is this going to do? Michael's going to start talking about God and archangels. That's all that doctor's going to hear. Then she'll focus on that instead of his actual issues. She can't help someone like him," Sam said.

"No, Linda's not like others. She sees me on a weekly basis. Angels and God are much of what we speak of. She hasn't locked me up yet," Lucifer said.

"Are you saying she knows?" Sam asked.

"Well, yes and no. I've told her, but she just thinks it's a metaphor. Most people I tell do," Lucifer said.

"You tell a lot of people then?" Gabriel asked.

"Of course. Everyone I meet," Lucifer said.

"That should surprise me, but it doesn't," Gabriel said. His brother had always been completely honest, even when he shouldn't be.

"Okay, fine. Even if she can do something for him though, you think she will be able to soon enough? Therapy can take years. Is this really the best idea?" Dean asked.

"Yes, it is, because it is the only one we have," Lucifer said.

Just then, Michael came out. Amenadiel, she wants to talk to you," Michael said.

Amenadiel nodded and went inside. He immediately sat down in front of the screen. "How did it go? Did you get a handle on what's going on with him?"

"First of all, a head's up on the Lucifer taboo would've been nice," Linda said with a tad of annoyance in her voice.

Amenadiel cringed. He'd forgotten to tell Linda that. "Sorry."

"Michael's mind is definitely jumbled at the very least, and it's clear that he went through something traumatic. I don't want to ask this, but did Lucifer do something to him?" Linda asked. While she didn't believe Linda could do anything to cause the damage done to Michael, she had to get the question out of the way.

"No. Lucifer hadn't even seen Michael since he was kicked out until a few days ago," Amenadiel said.

"Then why is he so afraid of him?" Linda asked.

"The person he's afraid of isn't actually Lucifer," Amenadiel said.

"I don't know enough about Michael or what's happened to say for sure, so correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that Michael has separated his brother into two separate people." Linda said.

"You're right on the money, Linda. You see, the things I told you about Lucifer when I was pretending to be a shrink weren't untrue. When he first came into being, his name was Samael. He changed it when he rebelled to make a statement," Amenadiel said.

"Wow. So, he was named after the angel the Devil used to be. Then he fell from Grace, much like the Devil in the bible and changed his name. No wonder he uses so many metaphor's, and why Michael seems to as well. This just may be a case for being too religious," Linda said. Michael had mentioned angels and God a few times when they were speaking. He was much like his brother in that regard.

Amenadiel decided not to comment. It wasn't really important that Linda didn't believe the truth. In fact, he preferred that. "Michael was hurt by a 'person' that is a lot like Lucifer. He was impersonating Lucifer. I think Michael realized he wasn't our brother, and when his mind broke, he got confused. Somehow, he got it in his head that Lucifer and Samael were two different people."

"Or he does believe it was his brother and his mind couldn't handle that. I need to know as much as I can about Michael and Lucifer as possible. Michael said that he took care of Lucifer," Linda said. This was why she wanted to speak with Amenadiel before Lucifer. She needed information, and Amenadiel would be much more forthcoming.

"Yes. Our parents were busy must of the time. Younger siblings were always entrusted to the oldest ones. Our parents were around, but not for all the day to day things. I guess you could say that Michael acted as a sort of nanny. I should've helped, but I didn't have any interest in acting like a parent. I treated Lucifer, or Samael, as it was at the time, like a brother. I played with him and taught him things, like a brother does. Michael cared for him. He made sure he had the things he needed. He ensured he behaved," Amenadiel said.

"An impossible job," Linda joked.

Amenadiel smiled. "It certainly turned out like that. When Lucifer rebelled, Michael felt angry and guilty. He felt that he'd failed. He said he wasn't harsh enough with Lucifer. He was certainly harsh enough when he banished him from our home. At the time, I thought he was right to."

"You don't anymore?" Linda asked.

"I don't know. Spending so much time around Luci lately has made me rethink things," Amenadiel admitted.

"Well, this explains why Lucifer is so angry at Michael. He wasn't merely betrayed by a brother. He was betrayed by a father figure. What was Michael like after Lucifer was kicked out?" Linda asked.

"He was cold. I mean, he was always harsh, and a lot of times judgmental, but he became much worse. Lucifer and our father were both gone because Lucifer rebelled. He made sure that wouldn't happen again," Amenadiel told her.

"Wait, your father was gone? Lucifer didn't mention that your father left home back then," Linda said.

"He didn't know. I just told him recently," Amenadiel said.

Linda pondered the information for a few moments. "So, Michaels helps to kick out the brother that was more like a son, and then his father leaves the family. And if I'm understanding right, Michael took charge."

Amenadiel nodded.

"Amenadiel, I think Michael's mind may have started to crack long before he was hurt," Linda said. It wasn't hard to see how Michael may have fallen apart after listening to the story. It seemed Michael had been forced to take too much on his entire life. His mind probably started breaking a long time ago.

Amenadiel frowned. "You think he started to lose it when Lucifer fell from grace?" If that was true, it would change his whole outlook on his twin. He didn't hate Michael the way Lucifer did, but he certainly didn't like him. He blamed Michael for much of what happened over the last century or so. If Michael had truly been coming loose before that, he might have to rethink things. It wouldn't absolve Michael, but it would make a difference.

"It would explain why he doesn't seem to remember why Lucifer's so angry with him. It was when he began to break," Linda said.

"I don't know," Amenadiel said honestly.

Linda sighed. "I wanted to speak with Lucifer, but now I think I should wait and figure out the best way to approach him with this." It would do no good for her to go into this without thinking this through. She'd known from experience that going about things the wrong way with Lucifer could just make things worse.

"Linda, you're never going to get Lucifer to forgive Michael," Amenadiel said. Lucifer had been too hurt by Michael. He was never going to get past the things he did.

"It's not forgiveness I'm striving for. Lucifer needs to deal with the pain and anger he feels in regard to Michael. Neither of your brothers can heal until they've dealt with that. So, I'll give it a day and then I will talk to Lucifer, and then Michael again. I know you all wanted this done fast, but that's just not going to happen," Linda told him.

"Well, it's the best option we have right now. Thanks for helping, Linda. I'll take to you soon," Amenadiel said.

"Bye, Amenadiel," Linda said before cutting the connection


	28. Chapter 28

Sam walked into the library the next morning and found Gabriel at the table observing Michael, who was looking around at the different books. Sam went over and sat down next to Gabriel. "Hey. Babysitting duty."

"I guess you could call it that. I decided to give Amenadiel a break. It's unnecessary though. Michael doesn't need to be babysat. He's not gonna hurt anyone."

"Well, we don't know that for sure. I mean, he looks harmless, but we don't know if he'll snap," Sam said. He didn't think Michael should be underestimated. They knew how dangerous he was. He'd orchestrated the apocalypse. They needed to be careful.

"I do. He doesn't want to hurt anyone. All he wants is to feel safe," Gabriel said quietly.

Sam looked at Gabriel sadly. "It has to be hard for you to look at him like this, both because he's your brother and because you know what he's been through."

"I feel bad for him. He literally went though Hell, and it broke him completely. His mind couldn't take what was done to him. I do sympathize with him. But do you wanna know something truly messed up, Sam? A part of me resents him for being like this. I resent him for being able to shut the world out the way he has. Look at him. He's smiling. As long as he doesn't hear Luc… our brother's name, or loud voices, he's the happiest being in the world," Gabriel said. He wished he could be like this sometimes. He wished he could forget everything and be obliviously happy, albeit insane, like Michael was.

"That's not messed up, Gabriel. I can understand wishing you could check out mentally, that you could shut the world out," Sam said. He felt like that a lot of times. Every time he thought about the Cage, a part of him wished he could go back to insanity. It wasn't exactly a great time, but it was easier to deal with what he'd been through when he was crazy than now that he was sane.

"I never thought anything could break Michael. I would think I would long before he did. I guess that means he had it worse," Gabriel said. It was hard for him to believe that anyone could suffer worse than he did. Then again, he was sure Michael and Sam thought the same.

"It doesn't have to mean anything. People handle things differently," Sam said.

"This is inaccurate," Michael suddenly spoke as he was looking at one of the books.

"Uh, well, everything here was written by humans. I'm sure they don't know about everything they wrote about," Sam said.

"Yes, I know. Humans shouldn't write about things they can't understand. Angels are beyond your understanding," Michael said.

"Not mine," Sam mumbled a bit bitterly. Aside from Cas, Gabriel, Lucifer, and Amenadiel, he didn't think much of angels. They all showed him they were no better than demons.

"We weren't always like this," Gabriel whispered to Sam. He could tell what the hunter was thinking.

"You're still not. There are a few exceptions, and you're definitely one," Sam said.

Gabriel smiled in response. "How about we go see about breakfast. I don't know about you, but I could do with some pancakes."

"You don't need to eat," Michael said as he put the book down and looked over at his younger brother.

"Actually, I do. I'm low on Grace. Plus, I liked to eat anyway. You should try it. It's really good," Gabriel said.

"Okay. If you say so," Michael said.

Sam and Gabriel led the way out of the library and down to the kitchen. The others, aside from Amenadiel were all there as well. Lucifer was cooking while the others were seated.

Dean was the first one to notice Sam, Gabriel, and Michael. "Really? You bring this dick down?"

"You want us to lock him in a room?" Gabriel asked sardonically.

"Why not?" Dean shot back.

Lucifer, meanwhile walked over to his son and stood by him protectively.

Michael, meanwhile, walked over to his younger brother. "Hi, Samael. Who is he?" he asked as he glanced at the boy next to his brother. He could tell what he was. The Grace and human soul were very clear. He was a Nephilim.

"Keep your distance," Lucifer said dangerously.

"My name's Jack," Jack said. He wasn't sure what else to do. This man, his uncle, was staring at him, and it was becoming uncomfortable.

"Hello. I'm Michael. You're a Nephilim. That's not allowed," Michael said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Stay away from my son," Lucifer warned in a dangerously low tone.

Michael gasped at his brother's words. "He's yours?! Samael, father will be very angry with you."

"I don't give a damn how angry the old man is," Lucifer said, his voice raised just slightly.

"But he'll lock you away!" Michael said in a dire tone.

Lucifer paused. The way Michael said that made it sound like he was speaking from prior knowledge. Perhaps Michael remembered more than he knew. That would need to be brought up to Linda.

Gabriel went to Michael's side. "Michael, it's okay. Dad knows about Jack." He was sure that was true. Nothing really happened that their father didn't find out about.

"He does? He's not angry?" Michael asked.

"No," Gabriel said. That might actually be a lie. Gabriel had no way of knowing what his father thought of Jack. But in order to keep the tension at a minimum, it was best that Michael believe their father was okay with Jack.

"Okay. As long as Samael won't get into trouble," Michael said.

"Yes, I'm sure that's your main concern," Lucifer said sarcastically before going back to cooking. He made sure to keep his eyes trained on his son and older brother as often as he could. Michael might seem mostly okay with Jack, but Lucifer didn't want to take any chances.

"Michael, you can sit down if you want," Sam said.

"Really?" Dean asked Sam with a raised eyebrow.

"Dean," was all Sam said.

Dean got up and headed out of the room. Suddenly, he wasn't hungry.

"I'll be right back," Sam said before following his brother out of the room. "Dean, you have to stop. The tension is bad enough around here."

Dean turned to glare at his brother. "Gee, I wonder why that is. We've got three to four archangels around her at any given time. One is the freaking Devil, another a wannabe Trickster, and another the dude who orchestrated the freaking apocalypse!"

Sam sighed. "Look, I get how you feel about Michael I'm not exactly that comfortable with him being around her either. No one is. But we need him if we're going to save Mom, which means we need to find a way to bring him back to reality. Losing it every time he enters the room won't help with that. And I really wish you'd back off when it comes to Lucifer and Gabriel. Maybe they've done questionable things, but they are not evil. Anything Gabriel has done has been to protect his family."

"Yeah, I get it, you're into him, but he'll never be anything more than the dick that stuck us TV Land to me. Not to mention stuck you in time loop. So, you were blinders all you want, but I'm not going to!" Dean said sharply.

"Fine, think whatever you want, but don't bring it up to me anymore if you don't expect me to say anything. Just give it all a rest please. I know you don't want Michael here, but he needs to be here," Sam said.

"I don't hear you saying this to your new buddy, Lucifer," Dean said.

"If I thought that it would help, I would. Lucifer's anger at Michael runs much deeper than ours. Though, I do think he'll calm down some now that he knows Michael isn't a threat to Jack, at least while he's like this. Will you please do the same?" Sam asked. He was really just tired of the tension. He was tense because of things with Dean, and everyone was tense because of Michael. He just wanted to ease some of it.

"Fine, whatever," Dean finally agreed.

"Thank you," Sam said before heading back to the kitchen.

"Don't think I don't know what you're planning, Sammy, and don't think I won't stop you," Dean called after his brother at the last moment.

Sam stopped and turned back to his brother. "What?"

"I know you plan to leave with Gabriel and Lucifer when this is all over. You're crazy if you think I'm going to let that happen," Dean said firmly. It wasn't that he wanted to stop Sam from leaving. He didn't want his brother to go, but he could accept it. He wouldn't accept him leaving with two asshole archangels though. He wasn't going to let them mess with and influence his little brother. He'd been down that road before and would not watch it again.

"There's nothing you can do about it," Sam said furiously. So much for cutting down the tension. That just became much worse with his brother's belief that he somehow had the right to keep him from moving on with his life.

"We'll see," was all Dean said before walking away.


	29. Chapter 29

Lucifer was sitting in the library looking at Linda through Sam's computer. "I don't see why you're bothering with me, Doctor. Michael's the one you're supposed to be helping."

"I told you I would need to speak with you, Lucifer," Linda reminded him.

"Well, I don't see why? I'm not the one with jumbled brains," Lucifer grumbled.

"Did Amenadiel tell you what I spoke with him about?" Linda asked.

"No. he said you'd tell me yourself," Lucifer said. That had been highly irritating and disconcerting. The fact that his brother wouldn't tell him what was said made it quite clear that he was going to be pay for whatever it was.

Linda couldn't say she was surprised that Amenadiel hadn't told Lucifer. It might even be better than he hadn't. Lucifer might have refused to speak with her if he had. "I asked Amenadiel about the circumstances surrounding you being banished from your home."

"What for? That has nothing to do with what is going on now," Lucifer said.

"I don't agree. Whatever happened to Michael started with you," Linda said.

"I am not responsible for what happened to that ponce!" Lucifer protested loudly.

"I didn't say you were responsible, Lucifer. I said it started with you. I believe Michael's break began when you were kicked out," Linda said.

"That's ridiculous. Michael was perfectly sane when he cast me out. He was sane enough to call me evil. He sent me to Hell without any regard for the fact that he…"

"For the fact that he raised you?" Linda sked when he trailed off.

Lucifer didn't reply. He simply looked at his hands and attempted to get his emotions under control. He hated losing control like this, and he hated Michael even more for bringing them out now.

"You feel more betrayed by Michael than you do your father, don't you?" Linda asked.

"They're both bastards. There is no point in discussing this," Lucifer said.

"Clearly there is. What happened damaged both you and Michael," Linda said.

"Don't talk to me about the damage it did to Michael!" Lucifer exploded. "I was the one treated like a pariah and cast out of my own home, not him! He is the one that kicked me out! He wouldn't even listen to what I had to say! Father said I was to go, so Michael just did his bidding!"

"What about before? What was Michael like before he kicked you out. Was he like he is now?" Linda asked. She decided to turn things away from Lucifer being kicked out, at least for now. He was too close to completely shutting down to continue with that now.

Lucifer took a deep breath and calmed down a bit. "No, he's bloody crazy now."

"Amenadiel says he was different before you were forced to leave," Linda commented.

"I suppose. I can't say for sure what he was like afterwards, but from what I've heard, I'd say he was different. I suppose he was a little bit like he is now before. He wasn't deliriously happy, like now, but he was happy, though certainly strict. He was very unfun," Lucifer said.

"Would anyone consider their parent to be fun?" Linda asked, incurring a flinch from Lucifer. "That's what he was to you, wasn't he?"

Lucifer nodded after a minute. "That's close enough, I suppose. My parents were busy creating. It's not that they were never around, just not for day to day things. Michael was to take care of those things for me when they couldn't."

"How did you feel about him doing that?" Linda asked.

Lucifer shrugged. "I don't know. It was all I ever knew. How was I supposed to feel?"

"You must have wished for your parents to be around more."

"Certainly, but it wasn't as if I resented the arrangement. How could I resent something that had always been?" Lucifer asked.

"Do you think Michael resented it?" Linda asked.

"I never really gave it much thought," he said.

"Well, you mentioned that you took care of your younger brother. Did you ever resent it?" Linda asked.

"No," Lucifer said without even thinking about it. He'd loved Gabriel more than anything. In fact, the only person in the world he ever loved more was Jack. He would never wish to pawn his brother off on someone else.'

"Not once? It doesn't mean you don't love him, Lucifer," Linda assured him.

"No, I've never resented Gabriel. There have been times when I felt he would've faired better without me, but I never wished him away as someone else's problem. Now, perhaps some would say he shouldn't have been my responsibility, and there may be truth to that, but I'm not sorry that he was. Whether Michael felt the same about me, I don't now or care," Lucifer said firmly.

"I don't believe you don't care, Lucifer. The betrayal you feel in regard to him is clearly very immense," Linda said.

"What does any of this have to do with fixing Michael?" Lucifer asked.

Linda sighed. "I believe Michael's sanity began to fall apart long before he was tortured. I think began slowly falling apart when he was forced to kick you out. That's…"

"He wasn't forced! He chose," Lucifer interrupted.

"That's why he's so fixated on you. It's partially why he keeps calling you by your old name and why he can't remember you leaving," Linda said.

"He remembers deep down," Lucifer stated, thinking about what happened with Michael that morning.

"Yes, I agree. It's a painful memory for him. Look, what I'm saying is that you may be the key to helping your brother," Linda said.

"So, in order to heal Michael, I have to forgive him? Well, if that's the case, Doctor, he's not going to heal," Lucifer said harshly.

"I'm not saying you have to forgive him. I'm just saying that you need to deal with it with him. It will help not only him…"

"I am not putting myself though that all over again for that little bastard!" Lucifer said angrily before standing up.

"Lucifer, listen…"

Lucifer didn't hear anything else, as he shut the computer.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gabriel walked by Sam's room and could hear him moving around in there. He peeked in to see the hunter packing a bag. "Sam? You going somewhere?

Sam didn't even turn around as he continued to furiously pack his things. "The bastard thinks he can control me? He thinks he can keep me here against my will!"

Gabriel shut the door and went over to Sam. He gently took him by the arm. "Hey, stop for a minute. What's going on? What did your brother do this time?"

Sam stopped and looked at Gabriel. "He found out I was planning to leave with you all when you go to LA. He announced that he wasn't going to _let_ me go with you. He wants to control me! I'm not doing it anymore, Gabriel. I know we can't go yet. I wouldn't want to leave until we save my mom anyway, but I'm not staying here with him!"

Gabriel sighed. He was dangerously close to trying to find out if his grace was strong enough for him to smite a human. If it was, it would likely drain whatever Grace he had, but he was almost willing to risk it to end Dean Winchester. "Okay, just calm down for a second. Dean can't stop you from leaving, okay? If he even tries, Luci and I will kick his ass."

"I know, but… Why can't he let me be happy? Does he want me to be miserable? I have the right to try to move on!"

"You do. Listen, you're gonna get the chance to be happy, Sam. He's not gonna stop you," Gabriel said.

Sam sat down on the bed and looked down at his hands in defeat. "I feel like he must want me to hate him. Well, I'm well on my way."

Gabriel sat next to him and put a hand on the back of his neck. "Things are going to get better, kiddo. We're gonna figure this all out and then we're gonna get out of here. You will get your chance to be happy."

Sam looked at Gabriel with longing, because what would really make him happy was Gabriel. He wanted to be with him so much. The urge to just lean forward and kiss him was great, so great that he couldn't resist going through with it.

Gabriel was shocked when the hunter abruptly kissed him, but not so much that he wasn't able to return his efforts.

Sam pulled away after a second, feeling like he'd done something terrible. Gabriel was the victim of torture. He wasn't even comfortable being touched very often. For all Sam knew, he'd just traumatized the hell out of the archangel. "I…I'm sorry, I…"

Gabriel easily shut Sam up by crashing his lips into the hunter.

Sam found himself pinned down to the bed seconds later, though his lips were released for a brief second. "Are you sure? I don't want to do anything that might hurt or upset you."

"I've been sure since I laid eyes on you, Sammy. Now, no more talking," Gabriel instructed.

Sam happily obliged. He just laid there as the man of his dreams began to undress him.


	30. Chapter 30

Gabriel laid in Sam's arms with a huge grin on his face. He was on cloud nine right now. He hadn't been this happy since before the fighting began in Heaven. Nothing, not even the memories of Asmodeus could ruin his mood right now. He'd just had sex with the man he'd fallen for from the moment they met.

Sam's mood was similar. He couldn't keep the massive grin off his face. He'd been dreaming about this moment for weeks, since not long after finding out Gabriel was still alive. Then after one fight with his brother, somehow all his dreams came true. It was unbelievable. "I can't believe that just happened."

"Are you sorry about it?" Gabriel asked, his mood dampening just slightly at the thought that this might have meant more than him than it did to Sam. What if it was only sex to him?

"Not even a little bit. It was great, and since it happened, I think I may as well go all in. I've had feelings for you for a while. I just didn't think you'd feel the same," Sam said.

Gabriel chuckled. "Then you're as stupid as I am. I thought the exact same thing about you. I've felt something since we met, though I tried to deny it."

"Me too. Well, sort of. I liked you when we met, but then I felt like a fool when I found out you were what we were hunting. I was angry. I felt like you'd betrayed me or something, like you'd led me on, even though that was ridiculous. You had no way of knowing how I felt. Then Mystery Spot happened, and I hated you," Sam said.

"Sam, I'm sorry about that. I don't think there's a single action that I regret more since I was created," Gabriel said sincerely.

"It's okay. I've already forgiven you for it. Once I realized who you really were, I started to piece together why you did it, and your reasons became even more obvious when I met Lucifer. You were trying to protect your brother, the brother who always took care of you. I'd do the same for Dean, even now," Sam told him.

"You're not completely right. I did do it to protect Lucifer. I thought he was in the cage and I wanted him to stay there because I didn't want Michael to kill him. But I also did it to protect you. You were so pure, Sammy. You were such a good person. You lit up the world just as Lucifer lit up Heaven. I didn't want to see you fall the way he did. I didn't want to see you corrupted by demon blood, like he was corrupted by the Mark. I had to save you from that," Gabriel said in an almost desperate voice.

"You couldn't. I get why you did it, but you never stood a chance. Nothing was going to stop me from doing whatever it took to save Dean. It didn't help that I wanted to believe the demon blood didn't make me evil," Sam said.

"You mean the bit you were fed as an infant. It didn't," Gabriel said.

"I know, but I couldn't see it at the time. I just wanted to believe that I wasn't going to lose myself. That turned out great," Sam said sarcastically.

"Hey, you saved yourself. You got through it. You were not what the dicks in Heaven and in Hell wanted you to be," Gabriel said firmly.

"Thanks. So, you think we should get dressed?" Sam asked.

"Nope! I'm good here," Gabriel said as he snuggled into the hunter's arms some more.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Lucifer walked into the library after hours of fuming after his session with Linda. He found everyone but Sam and Gabriel there researching. Well, Michael wasn't researching. He was fiddling with someone's cellphone, probably trying to figure out what it was.

Amenadiel was the first to notice Lucifer. "Hello, brother. How did your session go?"

Lucifer scowled at Amenadiel and then glared at Michael, as if it were his fault, which in his mind, it was. He was the bastard Linda wanted him to forgive, like that would ever happen.

Amenadiel put up his hands in surrender.

Lucifer sat down in between Jack and Castiel. "Where are Sam and Gabriel?"

Almost everyone shrugged, indicating that they didn't know.

"I saw Gabriel go into Sam's room several hours ago. I heard loud noises shortly afterwards. I believe they may be having intercourse." Castiel said.

Dean, who had just taken a sip of his beer, had a mini coughing fit after hearing his friend's observations. "Seriously, Cas?"

"What?" Castiel asked confused. He'd merely spoken the truth. He wasn't sure why that would be a problem.

Lucifer chuckled in response.

Jack frowned in confusion and turned to his father. "Father, what's…?"

"No!" Lucifer stated in a panicked voice. He knew what was about to come out of his son's mouth, and he refused to do it. He was not having the sex talk with his son.

"But I was just going to ask what intercourse is," Jack said.

"Not so funny anymore, is it?" Dean asked with a smirk.

"He doesn't already know about this?" Amenadiel asked.

"He hasn't been alive all that long, and there were other more important things to teach," Dean said.

"We will discuss this at another time, Jack," Lucifer said. He nearly prayed to his father to make this conversation end.

"Will we really?" Jack asked skeptically.

"Unfortunately, I'm sure we'll get to it eventually. Perhaps when you're forty. By that I mean when you have your fortieth annual birthday, not when you merely look the part, assuming you ever do."

Michael looked up with a frown. "I don't understand the problem," he said before looking at the young Nephilim. "It's how humans mate."

"Michael, shut up!" Lucifer nearly growled. Of course, his brother would choose this moment to act semi sane.

"Well, how does it work?" Jack asked. This time he looked directly at Michael. He seemed more willing to answer than his father.

"I sense that Samael will become angry if I answer that," Michael said before going back to fiddling with the phone Castiel had given to him.

"I don't understand what's so bad about my question," Jack said. He was once again looked towards his father.

Lucifer looked to the ceiling and gave into the urge to pray. "Father, I beg of you to end this. I will go back to Hell. I will be the perfect son and obey your every command. Just make it stop!"

Everyone started to laugh, except for Jack and Michael. Michael was back to being oblivious to his surroundings and Jack was still confused about why his question bothered his father so much.

"Hey, guys. What's up?"

Everyone turned to see Sam and Gabriel enter the room.

Gabriel looked at his favorite older brother. "Luci, were your praying?"

Lucifer glared at both his brother and his lover. "This is entirely your fault. I swear, I will make you both suffer for this."

"What's our fault?" Sam asked confused.

Jack was the one to answer. "Castiel said that you and Uncle Gabriel were having intercourse. Father got upset when I asked what that meant."

Gabriel stared at his young nephew for several moments and then started laughing his ass off. "Oh, that's so great! You totally freaked out your old man! Nice work, kid!"

"Gabriel!" Sam admonished. His face was beat red from embarrassment. Not only had everyone figured out what they'd been doing, but they were talking about it.

Gabriel was still cracking up. "Should I explain it to him, Luci?"

"Should I kill you?" Lucifer shot back.

"I don't see what the big deal is, brother. You've never had a problem discussing this subject, and given how many times you've done this yourself, it should be easy for you to explain," Amenadiel said in an amused tone.

If looks could kill, Amenadiel would've surely dropped dead on the spot. "Watch your back, brother. You may just find my blade in it."

Almost everyone continued to laugh.

"Oh, yes. Keep laughing at the Devil's expense," Lucifer said before standing up and heading for the door. He decided a quick retreat was for the best in this instance.

Jack got up to follow him. "Father, you haven't answered me."

Gabriel and Sam sat down at the table. "As grand as that was, what's up here? More research on the other world?" Gabriel asked.

"Yes, we would like to be ready when it comes time to go," Castiel said.

Meanwhile, Dean was looking at Sam intently. The thing with Jack and Lucifer was funny for a minute, but he didn't like that Sam might have screwed Gabriel, and from the embarrassed look on his brother's face when it came up, he was sure he had.

"What, Dean?" Sam asked in an irritated tone when he caught his brother staring at him.

"Nothing," Dean said before going back to what he was doing.

"Why are you researching other worlds?" Michael suddenly asked.

"We need to open a rift to an alternate universe," Amenadiel said.

"Why?" Michael asked.

"There's someone from this universe trapped there, and someone else from there is planning to come here. His intentions are sinister," Amenadiel said. He decided to leave out that that person was an alternate version of Michael. His brother didn't need to know that right now.

"Oh. You will need archangel Grace, as well as several other rare ingredients," Michael said.

Everyone slowly stopped what they were doing and looked at him. Castiel was the one to speak. "You know how to open a rift?"

"Of course. Father told me centuries ago," Michael said.

"Wait a second. You've watched sit here for hours and you already knew how to do this?" Dean asked in disbelief.

"You never told me what you were doing," Michael stated.

"He's right, we didn't," Amenadiel said. He never even considered asking Michael. Why would he think Michael would know the answer when he didn't know it?

"Great, you know how to open it. Tell us the ingredients," Dean demanded.

"It is unwise to open a portal. Different worlds aren't supposed to interact," Michael said.

"Yeah? Well, it's also unwise to start apocalypses," Dean shot back.

"You are correct, it is," Michael said matter-of-factly.

"Michael, we don't have a choice. The worlds are going to interact no matter what we do. This being will come here if we don't go there and stop him," Amenadiel said.

"Alright, but they will be hard to find," Michael said before telling them the other ingredients they needed.

"Damn. It can never be easy, right?" Gabriel asked.

"I'll get to work on it," Amenadiel said before flying away.


	31. Chapter 31

Gabriel walked into the kitchen and found Dean there by himself, seated at the table with a beer in his hand. Gabriel ignored him completely as he passed him on his way to the refrigerator. He was on snack detail. He and Sam were about to watch a movie.

"Where's my brother?" Dean asked in a gruff voice.

"He is waiting on me to screw his brains out, which I intend to do as soon as the movie's over," Gabriel said with a smirk. It had been almost a month since he and Sam got together, and any talk about it pissed Dean off, so of course, Gabriel used every opportunity he had to shove it in Dean's face.

Dean gave the archangel a disgusted look. "Enjoy yourself while you can. When this is over, I'm gonna make sure you never get near my brother again. I'm not gonna let you hurt him!"

Gabriel laughed in response. "That's a hypocritical thing to say, don't you think? Or are you projecting? After all, no one hurts Sam more than you do."

"Screw you!" Dean said angrily.

"Thanks, but I prefer your brother to do that. Tell me what your deal is, Dean? Are you really that afraid to see your brother happy?" Gabriel asked.

"Happy? With the dick that tortured him in a freaking time loop?" Dean asked before taking a sip of his beer.

Gabriel nodded. "You're right, I did. I hurt Sam, and I will always regret it. But it still doesn't hold a candle to what you've done to him and keep doing."

"You don't know anything about my relationship with my brother!" Dean yelled.

"Actually, I do, because he's told me. Let's see, there's holding the apocalypse over his head forever, even though you were hardly innocent. Not only did you break the first seal, but your deal made it possible for it to be broken," Gabriel said.

"I was saving my brother's life!" Dean said angrily.

Gabriel ignored the outburst. "But as I told him, that was all carefully orchestrated. Really, it's not your fault or Sam's, but that doesn't stop you from blaming him. Then you have his shredded soul ripped out of Hell and shoved back into his body."

"Oh, so I should've just left him there?"

"No. You should've done exactly what Lucifer did for Adam. You should've asked Death to release Sam's soul to Heaven," Gabriel said. He was glad that Sam was alive. He didn't even want to think about him being dead, but the fact that Sam was functionable was a miracle. It could've ended so much worse. He knew that every time he looked at Michael. It would've been worse for Sam. Michael was an archangel, so his mind would've been much harder to break. Sam's mind would've and should be in ribbons.

Dean huffed angrily and stood up. "You claim to care about my brother? You say it would be better for him to be dead!"

"There are worse things than being dead, Dean, believe me. I would think forty years in Hell would've taught you that," Gabriel said.

"He was walking around with no soul," Dean said.

Gabriel shook his head. "He wasn't. He was in Hell. The body that was here was just that. It was a body, a Zombie that was just a little more functionable."

"I was saving him! I did save him! He's good!" Dean yelled.

"Well, I don't know if I'd call him good. He still has nightmares about Hell, and about what he did without a soul. He is sane, so I suppose you're not totally off. The truth is, you got lucky, or I should say he did. Then you both did again when you let an angel possessive. I hear there's a young prophet that didn't get so lucky," Gabriel said.

Dean flinched a bit. The thing with Kevin still left him with terrible guilt. Keven died because of him. He'd never forgive himself for it. He also knew that it hurt Sam, but it also saved him. Dean couldn't really regret something that saved his brother's life. "Once again, I did what I had to do to save my little brother. I always will."

Gabriel sneered in response. "You always think you're saving him. You're not. You're just causing him more suffering. Being possessed is no cakewalk for a human, Dean. That's why my father made it so that angels have to get consent. That and he wanted it to be different than demons. And because you selfishly allowed your brother to be possessed, people died. Someone your and your brother cared about died. Sam has nightmares about that do. But that's okay in your eyes because you were 'saving' your brother. You did what you thought was right. It's a different story when Sam does it, right?"

Dean didn't say anything. As much as he hated to admit it, Gabriel wasn't wrong. He did feel justified in the things he did, yet he blamed Sam for doing similar things. He knew it wasn't right. He just didn't know how to feel any different.

"And you're not done, are you? You're still hurting him. You tell him you're going to stop him from being happy," Gabriel said.

"I am not gonna let my brother go off with two dick archangels, one of them being the Devil! I will protect my brother, like I always do!" Dean said strongly.

Gabriel laughed. He reached into one of the cupboards and pulled out a bag of popcorn and some candy "You're not afraid of us hurting Sam. That's an excuse you use to stop him from moving on with his life. Well, it won't work. I'm not gonna let you hurt him anymore. Sam wants to come with us, and he will. If you try to stop him, I will make you pay!"

Gabriel was almost out the room when Dean spoke again. "Yeah, with your low-powered Grace? You're not strong enough anymore."

Gabriel didn't bother turning around as he raised his hand, sending Dean crashing into the nearest wall. "You sure about that?"

Dean picked himself up and glared at Gabriel's retreating back.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Michael was sitting in the library in front of the computer screen that his doctor was on. He was fiddling with a pen as she spoke to him.

"How are you doing today, Michael?" Linda asked.

"I'm okay. Amenadiel is still gone, and Samael is still angry with me," Michael said absentmindedly as he played with the pen in his hand.

"Do you know yet why your brother is angry with you?" Linda asked.

"No," was Michael's only reply.

"Does it bother you?" Linda wondered. Michael had never shown much concern over Lucifer being angry. He expressed desire to know the reason, but that was all.

"No. Samael has been angry with me before," Michael said.

"So, you believe he will get over it. Why does he usually get angry with you?" Linda asked.

"When I have to punish him," Michael said.

Linda saw an opening. Michael's break had to do with him helping to punish Lucifer by sending him away. This might be the opening she needed to get him to start remembering that. "Do you have to punish him often?"

Michael looked at her. "Samael doesn't like rules. He tries to break them. Father says I need to punish him when he does that. Maybe that's why he's angry with me. He thinks I'm going to punish him."

"Why would you need to punish him now?" Linda asked.

"Because of Jack."

"Jack? Lu… Samael's son? Why would you need to punish him for that?" Linda asked.

"Because it's not allowed. Samael has a child. That is against the rules. But Gabriel says father knows about Jack. He hasn't punished Samael or tried to take Jack away. I think that means he's not angry," Michael said.

"Hang on. You're not allowed to have children?" Linda asked.

"No, it's forbidden," Michael said in a serious tone.

Linda blinked in shock. From her conversations with Lucifer, she knew that his father was somewhat controlling, but this took that to a new level. He implemented rules for his children that stemmed even to them creating children? That was more than a bit too far. "What other rules does he have?"

"We cannot disobey, ever. We will be punished severely," Michael said.

"But your adults, and your father is gone," Linda said.

"No, he's not! He's around. He knows what we do, and he will punish us."

Linda frowned. The way Lucifer and Michael described their father, it was like he really was God. While Linda knew it was a metaphor whenever Lucifer referred to his father as God, she also believed he thought they were pretty damned close. She wondered if their father was in the mafia or something. That was pretty close to being a God to some people. "Has he punished Samael."

"No, I punish him. That's my responsibility. I had to do it. I had to punish him or… I don't want to talk about it anymore. I don't want to talk about punishing Samael," Michael said.

While she wanted to push, Lina knew she would likely only make it worse. Michael was at his limit on the subject. He wasn't ready to remember what happened. But he was close. She would try again another day. For now, there were other things to explore. "Okay. Tell me more about your father. Your brothers say you were close to him."

"Yes. I was obedient. I always did what Father wanted. I wanted him to be proud of me," Michael said.

"You must miss him a lot," Linda commented.

"No. I hope he never comes back. I hate him," Michael said.

Linda was taken aback by the admission. Amenadiel and Lucifer told her that Michael was close to his father. They said his love for the man was as blind as it came, yet Michael had just professed hatred for him. "You hate your father?"

"Yes. I don't want to talk anymore," Michael said. He then got up and left the room without another word.

Linda sighed as she watched Michael leave. Fixing this messed up family was going to be harder than she thought it was. Michael might be the most messed up, but he was far from the only one, and it was going to be extremely hard to help all of them. Every time she learned something new, it seemed to get that much more complicated. She just hoped there was a way to save these men from there demons


	32. Chapter 32

Amenadiel appeared in the center of the bunker, where he found Sam and Gabriel were seated at the large table in the center of the room. "Hey."

"Hey, bro. You been gone awhile," Gabriel said. It had been over a month since Amenadiel left to retrieve the ingredients Michael had told them about. Not that Gabriel was overly surprised. There were some very unique items on that list. It would be hard even for an archangel.

"Yes. You would be surprised how hard it is to track down those ingredients," Amenadiel said.

"Did you?" Sam asked.

"Yes. I've left them to be safeguarded in Heaven. How has everything been here?" Amenadiel asked. He had to admit, he worried about being gone so long with so much tension going on, especially between Michael and Lucifer. Well, Lucifer was tense anyway. Michael was mostly oblivious, which likely just pissed Lucifer off more.

"No one's dead. I think that's the best you can ask for right now," Gabriel said.

Amenadiel nodded. "How is Michael doing?"

"Still mostly crazy. The doc's been talking to him, but it doesn't seem to be doing much," Gabriel said. He wasn't too surprised by that. A human psychiatrist wouldn't even know where to begin to heal an archangel's mind.

"Oh, actually, she's asked to speak with you, Amenadiel. She wanted you to call her as soon as you got back," Sam said.

"Alright. Would you assist me with your computer, Sam? I haven't a clue how to use that contraption," Amenadiel said.

"Of course," Sam said before standing up and leading the way out of the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"Hello, Linda," Amenadiel said as he sat in the library in front of the computer.

"Amenadiel, I'm glad you called," Linda said.

"Yes, I was told you needed to speak to me. It isn't a bad time, is it?" Amenadiel asked.

"No. Thankfully my last patient cancelled. I've been asking to talk with you for days. Everyone says you've been gone," Linda said.

"I have. I had some things I needed to retrieve. It took a while. You could've spoken with Lucifer."

Linda chuckled. "I get the feeling that would've been a bad idea, since what I have to say concerns him."

"I can only guess it's Michael. What has he said?" Amenadiel asked.

"I can't tell you that. Michael is my patient. Telling you anything he says is a breach of confidentiality," Linda said.

"Linda, I think it's safe to say that these are extenuating circumstances. You don't need to worry about losing your license or anything, I promise," Amenadiel said.

"It's a matter of ethics, Amenadiel. Without telling you anything he's said, I can tell you that I am more sure than ever that his break began with whatever role he played in what happened to Lucifer. I also believe that he's close to remembering what happened himself."

"Okay. What do you need me to do?" Amenadiel asked.

Linda sighed. This wasn't going to be easy and she knew it. "I think that Lucifer is the key to helping Michael. Now, I've tried to get him to speak with Michael about what happened, but he refuses."

"Yes, I can imagine. It's in Lucifer's best interests for Michael to come out of this, but he's not going to take an active role in making it happen. That means making himself vulnerable," Amenadiel said.

"Amenadiel, this needs to happen. Michael and Lucifer have to deal with each other. They both need to face what destroyed their relationship," she said.

"What do you want me to do, Linda. Lucifer is never going to agree to talking with Michael about the past. He doesn't want to talk to Michael at all," Amenadiel said.

"I have a suggestion to get him to agree," Linda said.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gabriel laughed when he heard Amenadiel's suggestion from the doctor. He and all the others, aside from Michael, were gathered right outside the library. "Are you crazy?"

"I'm not too wild about it either, but Linda things it might help Michael for us all to be there," Amenadiel lied. What Linda really thought was that group therapy was the best way to get Lucifer to show up.

"How the bloody hell is some sort of group session going to help with that?" Lucifer asked

"Okay, I think this is getting a little out of hand. We've got a human shrink trying to get into the mind of an archangel. Now you want us to let her into all of our heads?" Gabriel said.

"Look, I know it seems insane, but Linda has done a lot of good work. She's helped Luci, and I believe talking to her is helping Michael," Amenadiel said.

"The she can keep doing so the way she is. I refuse to do this. Linda is trying to make me talk to Michael. Either that or she's just trying to shrink us all. Actually, it's probably both. I won't do it," Lucifer said stubbornly.

"Lucifer, it's not always about you! Linda is trying to help Michael, and we need her to do that! We need Michael," Amenadiel said.

"I don't get how us doing this is going to help that though," Gabriel said.

"Well, maybe talking about it with all of us there will make Michael feel safer to remember," he said.

"Maybe it's worth a try," Sam spoke, causing everyone to turn to him. "Michael isn't really improving much as it is, and the more time we waste, the more we risk alternate Michael making his way here. We need to try anything we can, even if it doesn't seem likely."

"It's worse than a long shot, Sam," Gabriel said.

"I hate to say, but he's right. This is stupid," Dean agreed.

"Why? We went to therapy once," Jack said.

"That was grief counseling, and we weren't crazy ass archangels," Dean said.

"We don't have many options," Sam said.

Gabriel sighed and looked at Lucifer. "I guess it is worth a shot. Look, just show up, Luci. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to."

Lucifer huffed in annoyance. "Fine, but I will be exercising that right.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

The four archangels sat around a table in the library in front of Linda.

"I'm glad you all agreed to this. Is everyone comfortable?" Linda asked.

"Can we just get this bloody thing over with?" Lucifer asked impatiently.

Linda sighed and turned to Michael. "Michael, do you want to tell your brothers what we've been talking about? You don't have to."

"It's okay. We've talked about Samael and Father," Michael told them.

"What about Father, Michael?" Amenadiel asked.

"The doctor wanted to know about his rules," he said.

"How do all of you feel about his rules?" Linda asked.

Amenadiel shrugged. "His word was and still is law. His rules needed to be followed. There was no way to feel about them. It was our responsibility to follow them."

"Yes, or incur punishment," Michael added.

"I didn't care much," Gabriel piped up. "I loved the old man, but I was more concerned with my brothers. Day to day, that was what I knew. I followed Dad's big rules until after he was gone, so it really wasn't a huge concern for me.

"You were raised by Luc… Samael, just as he was by Michael, correct?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah."

"You said you loved your father, as in past tense. Do you not feel the same now?" Linda asked.

"It's hard to love someone who has utterly abandoned you," Gabriel said coldly. He would say he still loved his father, though he certainly resented him before, until Hell. His father had left him to be tortured and caged by Asmodeus. He could've, yet didn't, help him. "Why are we talking about me?"

"Because your feelings are just as important as everyone else's," Linda replied.

"Well, thanks, but feel free to move on," Gabriel said.

"What about you, Amenadiel? How do you feel about your father?"

Amenadiel frowned a little. He was tempted to ask the same question Gabriel did. Why was Linda focusing on them instead of Michael and Lucifer? Was she just building up or was Lucifer right that she was trying to shrink them all? "Uh, well, I guess I've had my moments of not understanding the things he does, but I believe he's doing what he believes is best for us."

Lucifer did nothing but roll his eyes in response.

"No. Best for him, not us," Michael said.

All three remaining archangels looked at him like he grew an extra head. Gabriel was the one to speak. "Mike?"

"What?" Michael asked, completely oblivious to his brothers' shock.

"Michael, would you like to tell us how you feel about your father?" Linda asked.

"I already told you I hate him," Michael said matter-of-factly.

"You hate him?" Lucifer asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

"Father? You hate Father?" Lucifer asked, still trying to wrap his head around the information. There was no one that was more of a suck up to the old man than Michael. He worshiped him. He stared a bloody apocalypse for him. Now he said he hated him.

Michael nodded.

"Why? Lucifer asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"You have to have a reason, bro. What is it?" Gabriel asked.

"Is it because of the Cage?" Lucifer asked.

Michael flinched. "Don't want to talk about that!"

"It's okay, Michael, you don't have to…" Linda started. She was soon cut off by Lucifer.

"Why do you hate him? You worshipped the bloody bastard! You cast me out for him!" Lucifer snarled before standing up. He didn't know why, but Michael stating he hated their father made him angry. Perhaps it was because of what Michael had done to him for their father.

"No," Michael said.

"Yes, you did! You threw me out! You cast me into Hell!" he yelled.

"Okay, we need to stop," Linda said. When she said she thought Lucifer might bring Michael's memories to the surface, she didn't mean for it to happen this way, though she supposed she should have realized it was more than a possibility.

"You've got to back off a little, bro," Gabriel said gently.

"No! Why should he get to hide from it?! I can't," Lucifer said angrily. He was tired of this game. He was tired of holding his tongue around the brother that betrayed him. He had a right to unleash his anger at him if he was forced in his presence.

"Samael, why…?"

"My name is Lucifer!" he interrupted Michael.

Michael scrambled out of his chair and backed away. "No! You're not that monster!"

Lucifer grabbed him and pushed him against the wall. "I am Lucifer! I am not the creature that tortured you, but I am the brother you kicked out! I am the one you called evil for wanted to make his own choices! You condemned me to eternity in Hell!"

Michael shook his head wildly.

"Yes! Stop hiding from it!" Lucifer yelled as he flashed his red eyes.

"Lucifer!" Linda called.

Gabriel immediately lunged forward and shut the computer. This was going to get ugly, and it would reveal a lot that the human doctor didn't need to see.

Michael felt memories he tried to bury make their way to the surface. His eyes glowed white and he place his hand to his younger brother's forehead, almost on instinct.

 _Memory_

 _Michael walked slowly to his father's thrown room with a somber look on his face. His younger brother was slowly falling apart. Samael, or as he now called himself, Lucifer, had just led a rebellion against their father and lost. Father was going to punish him severely, unless Michael could somehow plead his case._

 _Michael stopped outside the doors to the thrown room. He could hear his parents arguing through the walls._

" _You cannot be serious! He is your son!" his mother said._

" _He has led a rebellion against me! That mark is destroying him more every day!" his father yelled._

" _The mark you forced on him! It is your fault!" she yelled back._

" _I am aware of that! It was mistake to make him wear it!"_

" _Then take it away!" she said._

" _I can't! It would release her! I would be trading one evil for another! Actually, as it is likely too late by now, I would have two evils!" he yelled_

" _Our son is not evil!"_

" _He will be. I can't allow it!" he said._

" _So, you want to kill him?" she asked_

 _Michael gasped in horror. They were talking about killing his little brother. The angel he'd raised since he was created. There had to be a way around it. He couldn't let his brother be murdered. He wouldn't. He would go against Father if he had to._

" _What other choice is there?" his father asked._

 _Things were quiet for a moment, which only led to Michael fearing the worst. If his mother was giving up, there was no hope for Samael. He would be killed. 'No', Michael thought to himself. He would warn Samael. He would tell him to run. Though how could one run from God?_

 _Finally, Michael heard his mother speak again. "Send him to away. If you merely killed him, you'd have to reposition the Mark on another anyway. If you send him away, you keep them both from harming anyone."_

" _And where would I send him? Certainly not Earth. Imagine the damage he'd do," Father said._

" _Hell," she said after a minute._

 _Michael shuddered. That was a terrible punishment as well. Hell was an awful place. But it was better than death, wasn't it? Samael would live, even if it was away from everyone he knew._

 _Michael didn't wait to hear his father's response. He didn't need to hear it. He would make the choice before his father could. "It is better than death. I will save you, little brother."_

 _Memory_

Lucifer gasped as he came out of his brother's memory. He staggered backwards and stared at his brother, both in shock and absolute horror. "N…No! It can't be!"

Michael, meanwhile fell to the floor and hugged his knees, all the while whispering incoherently to himself.

Gabriel went to Lucifer's side. "Hey. You okay, Luci."

Lucifer felt his hands shake. All this time he thought his brother had betrayed him. He thought he'd sent him to Hell to please their father. If what he'd just seen in his brother's mind was true, he'd done it to protect him from their father. A part of Lucifer wanted to deny that it was true, just because he'd spent so much time believing something different, but deep down he knew.

Lucifer took a few steps towards his older brother.

"Lucifer, don't," Amenadiel said. His brother had already caused Michael to have a meltdown. He didn't want him to make it worse.

Lucifer ignored him. He made it to his brother's side and fell to his knees. He looked at Michael for a minute before pulling him into his arms and holding him as tightly as he could. "I'm sorry, Michael."


	33. Chapter 33

Sam was waiting several feet outside the library. He wanted to be there for Gabriel when he came out. He mad sure he was far enough away that he wouldn't hear what was being said. He knew this was a very private thing.

Gabriel walked out a few moments later, looking extremely bewildered.

"Hey. How did it go?" Sam asked.

"Weirdly," was Gabriel's response.

Before Sam could comment, he watched as Amenadiel came out, followed by Lucifer and Michael. Michael was half in Lucifer's arms as he came out. He was muttering to himself as Lucifer whispered comforting words to him.

"It's alright, big brother. I'm going to help you through this," Lucifer said.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Michael kept muttering to himself.

"No, it's not your fault," Lucifer said softly as he led him out of the room.

Sam looked at Gabriel almost in shock. "Gabriel, is Lucifer possessed?"

Gabriel waved off the concern. "Of course not, Sammy. Archangels can't be possessed. And that's the only reason I know he's not possessed." He was slightly freaked out by his brother's change in attitude as well. He wondered if Michael had done something to him when he touched him, but he also wasn't sure Michael was capable of that in his condition. Plus, Michael had gone right back to a crazy mess right after it happened.

Before anyone could say anything else, Cas, Dean, and Jack entered the room. "What the hell's going on. Lucifer just walked by with Michael. He was comforting him. Did therapy break him? I don't think we can deal with another broken archangel?" Dean said.

"We don't know what happened. One minute Lucifer was pissed. He just got set off. He refused to let Michael live in whatever fog he's in anymore. He wanted him to face the truth. He got so angry that his eyes turned red. Then Michael's turned white and he touched Lucifer," Amenadiel explained.

"I thought he was going to smite him at first. He touched Luci's forehead, like he was going to kill him. But then it was over, and something in Lucifer changed. He actually hugged Michael," Gabriel said.

"Do you think he did something to my father?" Jack asked worriedly.

"I considered the possibility, but I really don't think he's capable of that right now," Gabriel said.

"Plus, the only thing he might have done was smite him. He was terrified of Lucifer moments before because Lucifer wouldn't answer to Samael anymore, so smiting him I could understand. I don't think he was capable of doing anything else," Amenadiel said.

Gabriel thought for a minute. "Lucifer demanded that Michael face the truth. Maybe he did, and maybe he decided he wanted Lucifer to see something too. I think he may have let Lucifer into his mind."

Silence filled the room. None of them knew what to say to that.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Lucifer stared down at his older brother. Michael was sitting on his beg hugging his knees and rocking back and forth, all the while muttering apology after apology.

Lucifer was in utter shock. He kept replaying it all in his head over and over. His father had been planning his demise while his mother and brother did their utmost to prevent it. His mother hadn't let him be sent to Hell because she agreed he deserved it, or because she couldn't stand up to her husband. She'd done it to save his life. And Michael… Michael had acted without their father's permission. He'd sent him away not as a punishment, but as a salvation. Michael had never betrayed him.

Lucifer could barely believe it. In fact, he was still expecting to wake up from some vivid dream or hallucination. This broke apart everything he'd known for eons. Michael had been loyal to him, perhaps the most loyal member of his family outside of Gabriel. He couldn't believe how wrong he'd been.

Lucifer suddenly thought about everything that had happened, both before and after he'd been sent to Hell. When Michael cast him out, he told him he was evil, and that Hell was a mercy he didn't deserve. He told him he hated him. Then centuries later, he started the apocalypse. He'd tired to have Lucifer killed. Why would Michael do all that if he was trying to prevent his death.

Lucifer supposed he could chalk the apocalypse up to Michael already being partially crazy. Linda said that it was likely Michael started to lose it when he cast Lucifer out. So, the apocalypse could have been a result of his cracked mind. But why had he said such hateful things to Lucifer? Why would he lie to him like that?

Lucifer was pulled out of his thoughts by his brother. The archangel was still sitting there apologizing into his knees. "Michael? It's okay, Michael?"

"No! I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Forgive me," Michael cried.

"Michael, it's not your fault. I understand that now. Father's the one responsible. You were trying to help me," Lucifer said.

"I'm sorry," Michael kept muttering.

"Michael, stop," Lucifer said before walked over and gently taking ahold of his shoulders.

Michael hesitantly looked at his brother.

"I forgive you," Lucifer said. Those weren't words he thought he'd ever say to Michael even an hour ago, but now he didn't even see a sin needing of forgiveness. Michael did what he did because he loved him. But Michael seemed to need to hear the words. "It's okay. I only wish you had told me. I would've understood. Well, I think I would've. The Mark did control a lot of me then."

Michael didn't say anything in response, but he had at least stopped muttering to himself.

"I don't understand why you did it that way. Why didn't you tell me? Why did you let me think the worst of you? Why did you tell me I was evil? Did you want me to hate you?" Lucifer asked. He kept his tone as soft as possible, but some frustration got out. Of course, he didn't really expect an answer. His brother didn't seem capable of answering right now.

Michael did answer though. "Yes."

"What?" Lucifer asked surprised.

"I wanted you to hate me. I thought it would be better for both of us. I thought if you were angry, you'd be less hurt, and I thought if I could deal with your anger more than your pain. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it if I saw your pain," Michael explained.

Lucifer closed his eyes and fought hard against the tears threatening to fall. He couldn't believe how little he'd actually understood until now. "I'm sorry, Michael. I thought so little of you. You didn't betray me, I betrayed you."

Michael shook his head. "No. I did a terrible thing. I cast my own brother away. I made that decision. I…I didn't want to remember."

"You saved my life, and it slowly damaged your mind. But I think you'll be okay now," Lucifer said before sitting down next to him. Michael was far from back to normal, he was sure, but he could already see improvement. At the moment at least, he was pretty lucid and aware. It was better than he'd been since they got him out of the Cage.

Michael put his head down on his brother's shoulder and started to cry.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

When Lucifer walked out of his room, he found Gabriel and Amenadiel waiting for him.

"How's Michael?" Amenadiel asked.

"Better. He'll be okay eventually," Lucifer said.

"What the hell happened? One minute you wanted to kill Michael and the next you were hugging him. What did he show you?" Gabriel asked. He was almost certain that Michael had shown their brother something in his mind.

"The truth about my sentence to Hell. It wasn't Dad's idea. It was Mum's. Michael carried it out without father's knowledge. It was done before he could do anything to stop it," Lucifer said. Of course, he knew his father could've done something after that. Michael had to have known that too. Their father could've killed him if he really wanted. Michael must have decided that the bastard would've left well enough alone if Lucifer was already gone.

Amenadiel blinking in confusion. "This makes you less angry at Michael?

"Yeah, I'd think it would be the other way around," Gabriel said. If anything, Lucifer's anger at their father was more likely to lesson than his anger for Michael.

"Father was going to have me killed," Lucifer said. As he said it, it hit him. His father had wanted him dead. Until now, he was focused on the fact that he was wrong about Michael. Now the depth of his father's betrayal was hitting him hard.

Amenadiel and Gabriel looked at him wide eyed. They both spoke in unison. "What?!"

Lucifer explained everything he'd seen and heard in Michael's mind. "Michael decided the only way to save me was to send me away before father could agree or disagree."

"What about the apocalypse? He tried to kill you," Gabriel said.

"I think his mind was already unraveling by then. Who knows what he was thinking. I'd ask, but I don't even think he remembers it yet," Lucifer said. One thing he was sure though was that Michael wasn't responsible for his actions during that time. He didn't know what he was doing.

Amenadiel was still reeling from the knowledge that his father wanted to kill his brother. He always believed his father did what was best for everyone. There was always a good reason for the things he did, even things like abandoning them. But Amenadiel could not think of a single good reason his father would have for murdering his own son. And, yes, Amenadiel knew he tried to do the same to Lucifer not too long ago, but this was different. It was still wrong, but different. A father shouldn't even consider murdering his own son.

"Where's Jack. I want to see my son," Lucifer said. With the knowledge of his father's plans in his head, Lucifer needed to be with his son. He needed Jack to know that he would never do anything to harm him.

"In the kitchen with Sam," Gabriel told him.

Lucifer nodded and walked past them.


	34. Chapter 34

Jack walked into the kitchen the next morning to find his Uncle Gabriel, Uncle Amenadiel, Dean, and Sam sitting there. His father, Michael, and Castiel weren't there yet. He was worried about his father. He was acting really weird the night before.

"Morning, kiddo," Gabriel said to his nephew.

"Morning. Where's Father?" Jack asked.

"He's probably up with Mike," Gabriel said.

"Something's wrong. Father came to see me last night. He hugged me, and then he told me he loved me and that he'd never hurt me," Jack said. It wasn't like it was the first time his father had ever hugged him, but this was different. He had been really upset, like something bad happened, and given that it happened right after the meeting with Michael and that doctor, Jack was sure Michael had done something. "What did Michael do to my father?"

"It's not that simple, Jack," Amenadiel said.

Just then, Michael walked into the room.

"Morning, Mike," Gabriel said.

"Good morning," Michael greeted.

Jack went up to him. "What did you do to my father?"

"W…What?" Michael asked confused.

"Jack, don't," Sam said.

"He's upset and hurt. What did you do?" Jack demanded to know.

"That's enough, Jack," Lucifer's stern voice called out.

Jack turned to his father. "Father…"

"Come here," Lucifer cut him off.

Jack went over to his father, who gently pulled him from the room.

"You need to let Michael be. The way you just spoke to him is unacceptable," Lucifer said firmly.

"But he did something," Jack argued.

"He did not," he said.

"But you were upset after you talked to him. I could tell when you came out of the library, and when you came to see me. You were hurt," Jack said.

"Yes, I admit that, but it wasn't Michael's fault. I was upset in part because I made a mistake. Michael did not hurt me. He's only ever tried to protect me. I just didn't understand that before," Lucifer told him.

"But you said he betrayed you," Jack reminded him.

"I was wrong. It's complicated, but Michael's actions were never meant to hurt me. I wanted to protect me, and in attempting it, he almost destroyed himself. He didn't deserve for you to throw accusations at him," Lucifer said firmly.

"Sorry," Jack asked.

"It isn't me you need to apologize to," Lucifer said before motioning with his head back to the kitchen.

Jack nodded and walked back inside. He went up to Michael, who was sitting next to Amenadiel. "Michael, I'm…"

"Uncle Michael," Lucifer corrected. Jack addressed Gabriel and Amenadiel as his uncles. It was only fair that he did the same for Michael.

"He doesn't have to," Michael said.

"Yes, he does," Lucifer said firmly.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Michael. I was just scared because my father was hurt. I thought you were the one to hurt him," Jack said.

"I was," was Michael's response.

"No, you weren't. What happened was not your fault. You did something to protect me that nearly destroyed you, but you don't have to anymore. I understand," Lucifer assured him.

"Well, aren't we singing a freaking different tone," Dean said before taking a sip of his coffee.

"Luci, Linda's been calling to talk to you all morning," Amenadiel suddenly said.

Lucifer groaned. "Bloody I'm going to get reamed out for an hour."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"What the Hell were you thinking?" Linda asked from over the computer in front of Lucifer.

"Honestly, Doctor, Hell had nothing to do with it. Well, actually, I suppose it did. It was why I was so angry," Lucifer said.

Linda did not look amused. "Amenadiel said that Michael was okay, but do you understand the damage you could've done by going at him like that?"

"At the time, Doctor, I didn't much care. I was angry. I wanted Michael to stop hiding from what he'd done. I didn't care what it did to him as long as he admitted what he'd done," Lucifer said.

"You don't seem so angry now. You seem kind of remorseful," Linda said.

Lucifer nodded. "I was wrong. I have been wrong for eons. I hated Michael, even more than my own parents. In my mind, he abandoned me, and he was the one person I should always be able to count on to help me."

"Because Michael raised you. He was the father figure in your life. His betrayal hurt worse than anyone else's" Linda said.

"Yes, but Michael didn't betray me. He sent me to Hell, but he didn't do it to hurt me. He was trying to protect me from our father," Lucifer said.

Linda wasn't at all surprised by what Lucifer said. She remembered how Michael spoke of having to punish his brother. The way he said it made it seem like if he didn't do it, Lucifer's fate would've been worse. She'd known that something wasn't right. "What would your father have done?"

"He'd deemed my sins unforgivable, despite the fact that it was partially his fault. He was going to kill me," Lucifer said.

Linda was slightly taken aback by her patient's last statement, but at the same time, she wasn't entirely shocked. She'd heard enough of about this man to know that he wasn't like most fathers. He was cruel and controlling at the least. Small infractions led to severe punishments. Still, killing your own child was more than extreme. "Are you sure?"

"That it was his original plan, yes. I'm not entirely sure if he changed his plan in the end. Michael never gave him the chance. He sent me away before anything could be done about it," Lucifer said. Of course, his father could have still reached him in Hell if he wanted to kill him. Michael probably hoped that he would leave well enough alone as long as Lucifer was gone.

"I'm sorry, Lucifer. I can't imagine that was easy to find out," Linda said.

"No, not really. I spent an eternity believing my brother betrayed me. He didn't. Through all of it, Michael was always loyal to me. Even when he eventually tried to come after me, it was because his mind broke. He was loyal. I wasn't," Lucifer said. He was never going to forgive himself for thinking the worst of Michael. He gave up on his brother.

"Lucifer, you were angry. The one person you trusted to protect you sent you away. You had no reason to believe he'd done it to protect you," Linda said.

"I should've known my own brother," Lucifer said.

"You're focused on the aspect of this that includes your brother. What about the other part? Have you thought of what you've learned about your father?" Linda asked.

Lucifer snorted. "I've always known my father was a bastard."

"There's a difference between having issues with your father and finding out he planned to kill you. I can't believe that's not affecting you," Linda said.

"I…I've tried not to let it. I've tried to tell myself that my father and what he tried to do to me doesn't matter. I'd already believed he sent me to Hell, and I hated him for it. What does it matter if his real plan was more sinister? I already hated him. I can't possibly hate him more," Lucifer said.

"But it does matter."

Lucifer nodded. "I can't stop thinking about it. I think about it every time I look at my son, every time I think about him. I love him. I just can't imagine anything Jack could do that would make me wish him dead. If the day ever comes when I can fathom such a thing, I will kill myself."

"Most parents feel that way. It means you're a good father," Linda said.

"My own father wanted me dead," Lucifer said in disbelief.

"It's okay to be hurt by that," Linda said.

"No, it's not. If I'm hurt by it, it means I don't hate him. That's simply not acceptable," Lucifer said.

"Lucifer…"

"I think I'd like to end this here, Doctor," Lucifer said. He didn't want to talk anymore. He just wanted to be alone to figure things out.

"Okay. Do you wanna send Michael in?" Linda asked.

"Certainly," Lucifer said before getting up and heading out of the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

A few hours later, Lucifer found his older brother in the library staring into space. "Michael, are you alright?" He was a bit worried Michael may have gone back to his previous, oblivious state with the way his eyes looked.

Michael turned to his brother. "Hi, Sam… Um, Lu… Luc…"

Lucifer watched as his brother began to hyperventilate just trying to say his name. "It's okay. You can call me Samael."

"You don't like it," Michael said.

"No, not particularly, but I don't want you to be upset saying my name. Besides, I find I don't mind it as much coming from you anymore," Lucifer said.

"It wasn't you, right? I'm not wrong about that, am I?" Michael asked.

Lucifer knew what his brother was asking. He was making sure it wasn't Lucifer that tortured him. "No, it wasn't me. It thought it was me, but it wasn't. But I can't say I'm not at fault. I created it. It was the only way I could save myself from the Mark."

"I don't understand."

Lucifer sat next to his brother and explained how the being that tortured him had come into being. He explained how that thing locked in the Cage was never him.

"Amenadiel tried to tell that it wasn't you in there. I think. My head's still jumbled. Sometimes I think I'm mixing up my thoughts, and that some of them aren't real," Michael explained.

"Well, that one is. He did tell you that. You didn't believe him," Lucifer said.

"Okay, so that was real. I…I think I remember Raphael getting in my head. He was pressuring me to enact the final plan. He said it was inevitable. I kept saying no," Michael said. Suddenly, he remembered facing off with that being at the battle ground. "Did I do it? I wouldn't. I wouldn't hurt you."

"I think your mind was so mixed up at that point that you didn't fully know what you were doing. You didn't hurt me, Michael. That was not me," Lucifer reminded him.

"But I wanted to. No, I didn't want to, but I was going to. You were worse. The Mark corrupted you. Raphael said I had to put you out of your misery. He said I had to do it. But I still said no. Even when he made sure the vessels were born, I said no. When did I say yes? Why?" Michael asked no one in particular.

"It's not important. You'll remember when you're ready to. In any event, it doesn't matter to me. I know you never would've hurt me if you weren't so screwed up," Lucifer said.

"But I tried to, Samael," Michael said.

"It doesn't matter. Listen, you should rest. It has been a long couple of days. You need to try to come to terms with all that you've remembered," Lucifer said.

Michael nodded and got up. He really could use some rest. As an angel, he couldn't sleep, but he could lay down and relax his mind.


	35. Chapter 35

It was about two months later that everyone was finally ready to travel to the alternate universe to stop alternate Michael and save Mary. Michael had recovered enough that he was prepared to fight once more, and Gabriel's Grace had recharged quite a bit. It wasn't a hundred percent.

Everyone was in the library getting ready to go. Lucifer turned to Michael. "Are you sure you're ready for this? We could wait longer."

"Has our mother not waited long enough?" Dean asked coolly. As far as he was concerned, they should've gone over a month ago. Michael was coherent and sane, but everyone was so busy treating him like a fragile child.

"Better to wait than have her end up dead because we're not all ready," Gabriel countered.

"I'm fine. I'm ready to fight. We cannot allow my counterpart to come here and destroy this world," Michael said.

"Rowena should be down any second to start the spell," Sam said. They'd gotten in touch with Rowena not too long ago. She'd a little too far and they had to stop her. She'd reluctantly agreed to help. She was even more reluctant when she learned Lucifer was with them. They'd explained that he was not the same being that killed her, but it did little to assure her. Thankfully, they still managed to convince her to help.

"Sam, how much do you trust this witch?" Lucifer asked. Not only did they need to trust her to keep the rift open, he would also be leaving his son there with her. He didn't relish the idea of leaving his son with a stranger.

"On a good day, maybe seventy percent," Sam said.

"I don't like those odds. I'm leaving my son with her," Lucifer said.

"I don't need a babysitter. I'm not a child!" Jack grumbled as he sat petulantly in an armchair away from the group. Once again, he was forbidden to go and help while everyone he cared about left to save the world. It wasn't fair. He wasn't a child. Well, he supposed he technically was, but he didn't look or feel like one. He sometimes wished he did. It would seem more true. Plus, he sometimes wished he could experience life the way everyone else had. Right now though, he just want to go with his family to stop the other Michael.

Lucifer ignored his son. He decided it was best not to engage with him right now. He figured it would only make things worse, so he'd just let the boy be angry for now.

"I don't think you have to worry about Rowena. I don't think she'd dare try to hurt Jack," Sam said. Rowena was terrified of Lucifer. It didn't seem to matter that he was not what killed her so brutally. The fact that that thing was made up of his Grace was enough to scare the hell out of her.

"Perhaps," Lucifer said. He was far from convinced, but had no other choice. He refused to take Jack to a warzone, and they needed everyone else with them. Well, not so much Sam or Dan, but neither would agree to stay behind. He really couldn't blame them in this instance. Their mother was in that world.

Just then, Rowena came into the room. "Alright, I suppose you're all ready."

"Yeah. Each of us has given you a vial of our Grace. That should give us four days, correct?" Amenadiel asked.

"In theory. This hasn't exactly been tried before," Rowena said as she began setting up her ingredients.

"As we mentioned, Jack is going to be staying here with you," Sam said.

Jack began grumbling at that.

Lucifer walked over to Rowena, who took a step back and looked away. "You're afraid of me, correct, Darling?"

Rowena wouldn't give him the satisfaction of answering.

"If anything happens to my son, I will make that fear a reality," Lucifer warned. He knew the woman had been through it thanks to his creation. He had no desire to make it worse, but his son was his priority. So, he decided that if she already feared him, he might as well use it to make sure she didn't try to hurt Jack.

Rowena nodded quickly.

Lucifer went over to Jack, who pointedly looked away from him. "I know you're angry, but you knew long before now that I wasn't going to let you come."

"But it's not fair! I can help!" Jack protested.

"Jack, we are not going to have this conversation again," Lucifer said in a tone that left no room for argument. "You will stay here, and you will not step one foot towards that rift, am I understood?"

"But…"

"Jack!" Lucifer said, raising his voice slightly.

"Yes, Father," Jack finally said.

"If you go through that rift, I can not even begin to explain to you the trouble you will find yourself in, and for the record, I mean with me, not with whatever you encounter," Lucifer said in sternest tone he could use.

"Okay, I understand," Jack said. "You'll come back, right?"

"I have every intention of it," Lucifer said in a softer tone before pulling him to his feet and pulling him into his arms.

Despite his anger, Jack hugged his father.

After letting go of his son, Lucifer walked over to his brothers.

Michael gave his younger brother an amused look. "Wow. That was like watching a clip of the past, only you're me and Jack is you."

Lucifer gasped and looked at his brother with a fake insulted look. "What? Take that back. I'm not nearly as mean as you were."

Michael chuckled. "You know we had the same fight over and over again, minus the alternate universe aspect. You always wanted to come with me on my assignments. And you only knew to warn him not to follow us, because you remember the one time you followed me."

"Yes, you weren't pleased, were you?" Lucifer asked. He remembered that instance. It was hard not to. He was punished big time for that, both by Michael and his father.

"Alright, gentlemen. We're ready," Rowena said. She added all the ingredients and then spoke the spell. Seconds later, a thin light appeared out of nowhere.

The team all looked each other and then one by one walked through.

Lucifer took in his surroundings. The entire area around him looked dead. There was no sun or flowers. There were a few trees, but they all looked to be dead and rotting. "Bloody hell."

"No, I'm pretty sure Hell looked better," Maze commented.

"Damn. So this is what would've happened if we really did fight to the death," Michael commented.

"Hmm," Lucifer responded.

Soon, they all heard screams from a few feet away. They all ran to find the source. They arrived just in time to see a human smote while several angels looked on in glee.

"Excuse me!" Lucifer called out.

"What the hell are you doing?" Dean demanded to know.

The angels all turned to them.

"You do realize that it's forbidden to kill a human, yes?" Lucifer asked them.

"It is?" Sam asked Gabriel in a hushed tone.

Gabriel nodded. "No one's followed that rule in a long time though. Well, I guess Luci has, and probably Amenadiel."

"Who are you?" one of them asked.

Michael stepped forward. "You know who we are. You can sense us, just as we can you… Raphael?"

Raphael stared at him. "It's impossible!"

"Do you think this Michael forgot to inform him of an alternate universe? That was quite inconsiderate of him, wasn't it, brother?" Lucifer asked Michael.

"Kill them!" Raphael yelled.

The other angels went to attack, but didn't even make it one step before Michael snapped his fingers and imploded them all.

"Did you really think a handful of seraphs would have any chance against the four of us. Do you think you do?" Gabriel asked.

Raphael went to take flight but found that he couldn't move.

The four archangels approached the alternate version of their dead brother. Michael smirked at him. "Alternate version or not, we both know your power will never outweigh mine."

"You should be on our side! Father's gone now. This world is ours! It should've always been ours!"

Lucifer looked around him. "Your prize doesn't look too grand."

Michael placed his hand to Raphael's head and slowly smote him. He was only able to do so by remembering that this was not really his brother. It also probably helped that he focused on what his Raphael had done to him, pressuring him to murder their brother until his broken mind finally completely snapped.

When it was over, they all heard as a gun was cocked. They turned around to see a machine gun pointed at them. "Who the hell are you?'

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Put that away. It won't do anything to us."

"It might hurt. They've got angel killing bullets," Dean said before addressing the man. "Look, we're not here to hurt anyone."

"That one's an angel. I saw what he did!" the man said as he motioned to Michael.

"Yeah, you saw him kill other angels. He did so to help. We're all from an alternate universe," Sam said.

The man lowered his gun slightly, but still appeared suspicious and ready to shoot if necessary. "We met a woman from an alternate universe not too long ago."

"A blonde?" Dean asked.

He nodded.

"She's our mother. Is she okay?" Dean asked.

"You're Dean and Sam," he said.

"Is she okay?" Dean asked again.

"Yeah. We rescued her from Michael's compound not too long ago. She's been working with us since," the man said.

"You have to take us to her," Sam said.

"Are you crazy? Even if I trusted you, you've got angels with you. I will not take angels back to our safe house," the man said.

"We are not here to hurt anyone. We have come to stop Michael once and for all. With our help, you'd be able to take your world back," Castiel said.

The man scoffed. "Yes, I'm sure. Michael has ruled this world for years. You think all of you can stop him. Even angels won't be much use. He has hundreds."

"And none of them can hold a candle to the four of us, to four archangels," Amenadiel said.

"You're archangels? Is one of you an alternate version of Michael?" he asked. He raised his gun again, ready to shoot whoever claimed to be Michael.

"Yes, but I'm not like him. I don't know what happened to him, but I never had any desire to see the world come to this," Michael said.

"Why should I trust you? You are him! You're what ruined our world!"

"Because I could've killed you by now by barely lifting a single finger," Michael said frankly.

"We have the power to end this war. At this point, what do you really have to lose by letting us help? Your world has already been destroyed," Amenadiel said.

The man stared at them for several moments before lowering his weapon once more. "Alright, I'll take you, but don't expect a warm reception, especially you," he said as he looked at Michael.

They all immediately followed the man.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Back at the Bunker, Rowena was keeping an eye on the rift while Jack sat at the piano. He started playing the song his father had been teaching him. Playing the piano helped to calm him sometimes.

"You are good at that," Rowena said.

"I'm not as good as my father. He's still teaching me," Jack said.

"I need to leave the room for a few wee moments. Watch the rift, will you?" she asked before walking away.

Jack waited for her to leave the room before approaching the rift. He really wanted to step through. He wanted to be with his family and help them fight. His father had warned him not to. He said there would be consequences. But they would be worth it, wouldn't they? Anything would be worth being allowed to help his father.

Jack had made his mind up. He was going to do it. He was just about to step through when he heard a stern voice behind him.

"Step away from it, Jack."

Jack turned around to see a short man with curly brown hair. He'd appeared pretty much out of nowhere. "Who are you? How did you get in here?"

"Your father warned you not to follow, didn't he?" the man asked sternly.

"I…I wanna help," Jack said.

"How does it help him to have to worry about you too?" the man asked.

"Who are you, and how did you know who I am and who my father is?" Jack asked.

The man smiled. "I know about your existence before you even drew your first breath, just like with anyone else that is created in this world. It's a perk of creating everything."

Jack was beyond confused. He had no idea what any of that meant.

The man stepped forward a few steps. "I'm your grandfather, Jack."


	36. Chapter 36

Jack stared at the man in front of him in disbelief. This man had just said he was his grandfather. That made him… It made him God. The being his father hated above anyone else. The one that forced his father into Hell. Looking at him though, he didn't seem like he could do that. He looked rather small and unintimidating. "You… You're really my grandfather? You're God?"

Chuck smiled and took a step forward.

Jack immediately backed up. He'd heard so many stories about this man, and none of them were good. His father and at least two of his uncles hated him. God had hurt both his father and his Uncle Michael. There were probably many others he hurt too. Not to mention that Jack knew his grandfather had outlawed his existence. For all Jack knew, he was there to kill him.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, Jack. You're my grandson. I love you," Chuck said with a smile.

"Like my father?" Jack asked.

"I know you'll find it hard to believe, but I love my son," Chuck said.

Just then Rowena came back into the room. "Charles, you've returned. Good to see you. Is that homicidal sister of yours nearby?"

"Hi, Rowena. Amara is off on her own for a while, but she's doing well. No more killing everyone and trying to destroy the planet," Chuck said.

"Good to know," Rowena said.

"I just came to visit my grandson. Would you give us a few minutes?" Chuck asked.

Rowena looked hesitant. She certainly didn't want to anger God by refusing to do what he asked, but she also didn't want to anger Lucifer by leaving his son with someone that might or might not mean him harm. "The thing is, Charles, your son has threatened extreme pain should I let anything happen to his son."

Chuck laughed. "Yes, I imagine that he did. So, he probably wouldn't have reacted well if Jack had jumped through the rift while you were out of the room, like he was going to."

Rowena's eyes widened. She hadn't even thought that eh might jump in, if for no other reason than that his father had promised dire consequences.

"I mean my grandson no harm, Rowena. Please leave us alone," Chuck said. This time, it was more of a demand than a request.

Rowena nodded reluctantly

"Why are you here?" Jack asked once Rowena was gone.

"I came to meet you. I've wanted to meet you for a while now. I would've come sooner, but well, I think we both know it wouldn't have ended very well," Chuck said.

"My father would've been angry. He will still be angry when he finds out you came. He doesn't like you," Jack said.

Chuck nodded. "I decided it would be best to avoid a fight the first time you and I met."

"So, you've been around the whole time? You know what's been going on. Why didn't you help us?" Jack asked.

"That business with the being posing as my son was Samael's problem. He needed to fix it," Chuck said.

"He hates that name," Jack said. He let Michael call him that because it bothered Michael to call him 'Lucifer', but he was the only one allowed.

"But it's his. Lucifer has never been his name," Chuck said firmly. He called the being impersonating him Lucifer, but that was because he knew that wasn't his son. His son was Samael. Period. "Anyway, as I said, it was his issue, not mine. For that matter, I don't see why I should involve myself in every little problem. That's why there are people like the Winchesters in the world."

"But you're God. You created everything. Doesn't that make it your responsibility to fix it?" Jack asked.

"People have Free Will, Jack. If they use it to make the world worse, why should I have to clean it up?" Chuck asked.

"Free Will? But isn't Free Will why my father was sent away? He wanted it and you wouldn't give it to him," Jack said.

If Chuck was surprised by his grandson's boldness, he didn't show it. "It was a different time, plus it was more complicated than that. Even if I'd given him what he wanted, it wouldn't have changed anything. He was being corrupted. The mark that kept my sister locked away was taking over his entire being. Free Will might have been what Samael wanted in that moment, but no matter what I did. It was only going to get worse."

"So, you wanted to kill him," Jack said angrily. He'd learned recently why his father's opinion of his Uncle Michael had changed overnight. He'd learned that Michael had been trying to save him from their father.

Chuck sighed. "No, Jack, I didn't want to. Every day that went by, I was losing my son. There was no way to get to save him other than to destroy the Mark, and that would've released Amara. And even if I did that, I wasn't sure it would work. My options were to lock him up or kill him. If I killed him, at least I would've preserved a small amount that was left of him to my memory. It seemed better than to watch as the literal darkness completely engulfed him. But Michael made his decision before I could make mine, so I decided to take as a sign that it was the best course of action."

"You were wrong. My father isn't destroyed," Jack said.

"No one is immune to mistakes, Jack, not even me. Your father was stronger than I gave him credit for. I don't know how he managed to keep enough control to actually cut out his infected Grace. I don't even know how he came up with the idea. It certainly never occurred to me as possibility," Chuck said. He held an impressed look on his face. His son shouldn't have been strong enough to even think of such an idea. He should've. Samael had always been one of the strongest and most resilient of his children.

"If you know you made a mistake, why didn't you fix it? Why did you leave him in Hell?" Jack asked.

"I didn't. That implies that I sent him to Hell in the first place. Michael did that. If you mean, why didn't I go to him, how do you think it would've worked out? How do you think it will work out now when he finally sees me again?" Chuck asked.

Jack didn't respond. God was right. His father wouldn't have responded well. He hated his father for the way he treated him. When they saw each other again, he would just tell God to go to Hell.

"My son is never going to forgive me. He will hate me for the rest of his life, and I can't say he's wrong to feel that way," Chuck said sadly. Everything he'd said to the fake version of his son was true. He was sorry for the way that he treated his son. He was sorry for trying to punish him for his own failures. But his remorse wouldn't make a difference. It was too late.

"Why are you really here? I mean, maybe you wanted to meet me, but there must be another reason," Jack said.

"There is," Chuck said before motioning to one of the tables, indicating for his grandson to sit.

Jack walked over to the table and sat down.

Chuck sat across from his grandson. "Jack, you haven't been in this world very long. In that short amount of time, you've felt more pain than anything else. Seconds after you drew breath, you had people trying to kill or use you. You were told about a father that was evil and how you'd be just like him."

"They were wrong. That thing wasn't my father," Jack said.

"You're right, and neither you or your father are evil. The point is, it hasn't been easy for you, and that is largely because of me and my angels. So, I've come to try to make it up to you. I couldn't do it with your father here because I knew he'd be… skeptical at the very least," Chuck said.

"How would you make it up to me?" Jack wondered. Honestly, he didn't think his life had been so bad. Yes, there were times that he felt badly about himself because of the first few weeks of his life, like the way Dean treated him at first, but he'd gotten past all of that. He had a family now. He had his father. Still, he wondered what his grandfather was planning to do.

"You tell me. Ask me for one thing, and it's yours. The only exception is that I will not bring your mother back. Death needs to start being respected. Oh, I also won't let you jump through that rift," Chuck said with a knowing look.

Jack smiled sheepishly for a second before the shock of what he'd just been told came back to him. He was being offered a gift by God himself. "I can ask for anything else."

Chuck nodded.

This was such a big thing for Jack. He was being given the opportunity to receive anything he wanted. It should be something that he struggled with, but it wasn't. He was pretty sure he knew what would make him the happiest. He'd been thinking about it a little bit lately. However, it was a huge thing, and something he wasn't going to be able to take back. He really had to think it through. "Can I have some time to think about it."

"I would suggest it. Take a day or two before you decide, because as you were just thinking, it is big, and you can't take it back," Chuck said.

"You can read my mind?" Jack asked.

He chuckled. "I'm God, Jack. I can do pretty much anything."

"How will I reach you? Do I just pray?" Jack asked.

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere. Clearly, someone needs to keep an eye on you to keep you from disobeying the orders your father gave you. Rowena doesn't appear to be up for the challenge," Chuck said.

Jack blushed for a minute, and then stood up. He headed out of the room. He needed time to think about this.


	37. Chapter 37

The group followed the man who was leading them for hours before they got to where they needed to go. The man stopped just short of their location. "Hold on. We're warded from angels. I'll go inform the others and then…

Amenadiel waved his hand and all the angel sigils vanished before the man could finish. "Taken care of. By the way, your warding isn't strong enough for archangels."

The man blinked for a minute before continuing on.

When they reached the house, Lucifer blinked. "You call this a safe house? What's so safe about it. It looks like a normal house. Anyone can gain access. A safe house should be underground or something."

"Yeah, because we have those kind of resources," the man said.

Just then, about four men came out of the house with guns. "What the hell is this, Ryan?" one of them asked.

Gabriel quickly moved in front of Sam. The guns wouldn't hurt them if they were made to hurt kill normal angels, but they would kill humans.

"Oh, do put those away. They won't do anything to us," Lucifer said in a bored tone.

"Two of them know Mary," the man, Ryan said.

At that moment, Bobby and Mary came out. "Sam, Dean?" Mary asked.

Dean smiled. It had been a long time since he'd seen his mother, and he spent a lot of that time believing she was dead.

"Put the guns down, guys," Mary said before walking towards her sons.

Dean and Sam both met her in time to be engulfed in her arms. "Mom, are you okay?" Sam asked.

"I'm fine. I thought I'd never see either of you again though," Mary said as she hugged them tightly. She kept it up for several minutes before she pulled away.

"Who are the rest of them? None of them seem dressed for this world, so I'm guessing they're from your world, boys," Bobby said.

"Yeah, who are they?" Mary asked. She recognized Castiel, of course, but the others were strangers. Although, as she looked at the blond man, she couldn't help but think he had a slight resemblance to John.

"We are from their world. We're here to help stop your Michael," Amenadiel said.

"He aint mine," Bobby grumbled.

"Yes, we've heard what he's like. I don't blame you for not claiming him," Lucifer said.

"Boys, please tell me he's not with the Men of Letters," Mary said as she pointed to the man who just spoke. He was British and dressed a lot like some of the Men of Letters people she'd met. She tried not to generalize people, but this guy kind of fit the bill.

"No, he's not. Don't worry, Mom," Sam said.

"Yeah, he's an archangel," Dean piped up.

The others raised there guns once more, and Bobby glared at them all. "You brought angels here?!"

"None of us mean you any harm. We want to help," Amenadiel assured them.

"No angel wants to help a human!" One of them exclaimed before cocking his gun.

"That's a bit uncalled for, isn't it? I find many humans idiotic, but I don't pull a gun on all of you for it, do I?" Lucifer asked.

"I thought all the archangels besides Lucifer from our world were gone," Mary said. She remember the boys telling her they had all been dealt with.

"We thought so. To our knowledge, two of them were dead and another was in the Cage. One we didn't even know existed," Dean said.

"That would be me. My name's Amenadiel."

"Amenadiel. You're Michael's twin," Bobby said.

"I take it you've crossed paths with the me in this world," Amenadiel said.

"Yeah. The only archangel who didn't try to kill everyone in sight. Not that what you did was any better. You took a page from your daddy's book," Bobby said.

Amenadiel closed his eyes sadly. He knew what the hunter was telling him. His alternate self had run away. "Well, I guess I'll have to make up for that."

"Don't be ridiculous. You haven't done anything," Lucifer told his brother.

"And the rest of you?" Bobby asked.

"I go by Gabriel," Gabriel said with a grin.

"Huh. I never actually met you," Bobby said.

"That must mean my witness protection held," Gabriel said.

"What about the rest of them?" One man asked.

Lucifer smiled at them. "Lucifer Morningstar. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

Everyone looked shocked and horrified. One even took a shot at Lucifer, hitting him square in the chest.

Lucifer stumbled a little. The shot did hurt for about a second, but otherwise, it didn't do any damage.

"Samael!" Michael exclaimed before grabbing his brother by the arm. "Are you okay?"

"Okay, I'm killing this human," Maze said before taking a step forward, only to have Amenadiel hold her back.

"Relax, Maze. I'm fine," Lucifer said before turning towards the man who shot him. "You know, you just ruined my shirt. Do you know how this suit cost?"

Bobby glared at his trigger-happy friend. He was all for killing angels, but every one of them ought to know by now that their bullets didn't kill archangels. All the moron managed to do was piss the intruders off.

Michael glared at the men. "No one hurts my little brother!"

Several people murmured Michael's name and raised their guns again. They all knew that aside from Michael and his twin, Lucifer was the oldest archangel. That could only make the angel that spoke Michael.

"Did shooting help any of you morons the first time?" Gabriel asked.

"Put them down!" Bobby ordered his men before turning to the Winchesters and their 'friends'. You boys got some nerve showing up with four archangels, and whatever the hell the woman is."

"Look, they're mostly all dicks, but they're here to help," Dean said.

"Lucifer is here to help? How can you possibly believe that after everything he's done to all of us? And from what you've told me, our world's Michael isn't much better than this one," Mary said.

"Darling, I assure you, you and I have never met before today," Lucifer said.

"Yeah, Mom, it's complicated. Lucifer never did anything to us. Until several months ago, none of us had ever even laid eyes on him," Sam told her.

"What?" Mary asked in confusion.

Sam quickly explained to his mother everything that happened with Lucifer since she'd been gone. "The person that did all those things to our family wasn't Lucifer."

"Now, Sam, I thought I engrained into by now not to refer to it as a person," Lucifer said lightly.

"Seriously?" Mary asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. We found it hard to believe at first. In fact, we didn't believe it at first, but it's true. The thing we thought was Lucifer was something else entirely, and it's dead now," Sam assured her.

"Well, that's good to know at least. What about this Lucifer? What's his game?" Mary asked.

"He just wants to help," Sam said.

Dean snorted. "Yeah, sure. The Devil only wants…"

"Dean, shut up," Sam said. He really didn't have the patience to listen to his brother right now. They had problems that didn't need Dean's issues compounding them.

Dean glared at his brother, but didn't say anything.

Mary looked between her sons. Something was going on between them, and she made a note to get to the bottom of what that was very soon.

Amenadiel addressed the group next. "Look, we don't expect you to trust us after everything you've been through, but we just want to stop Michael from destroying your world."

"Too late for that. And don't think I don't know what you really want. You don't give a damn about this world. You want to stop the bastard from invading yours," Bobby said.

"Yes, you're correct," Lucifer said. He was never one to deny the truth. "But it happens that our goals will fulfill yours."

Mary turned to Bobby. "Can we really afford to be picky on who we take help from?"

"You can't be serious," the man to Bobby's right said.

"Michael and Lucifer are in our domain!" another said.

"Alright, all of you shut up! Mary's right, we can't afford to have standards here. Plus, we can't really stop them.

"Excellent!" Lucifer said with a grin.

"That don't mean we trust you," Bobby said.

"Well, I certainly wouldn't in your shoes. In fact, that would be quite foolish," Lucifer said.

Everyone immediately started to break away from the group. Sam and Dean walked inside with Bobby, while the four archangels picked a corner and began talking about the next steps.

Mary went up to Castiel. "Hey, Cas."

"Hello, Mary. It is good to see you. We were not even sure you were still alive," Castiel said.

"Well, I wouldn't be if not for everyone here. I'm sure Michael would've killed me by now," Mary told him. "Listen, do you trust the archangels?"

"Most of them, yes. It was hard at first. We were all very skeptical about Lucifer, but it seems that nearly everything I was told about him was untrue. Over the last several months, he has proved to me that I can trust him. The only one I have reservations about is Michael, and that's not entirely his fault," Castiel said. Actually, most of it wasn't his fault. He had lost his mind. He couldn't really be held responsible for his actions. But it was hard for Castiel to erase all he'd known about the archangel.

"Well, I'm not sure what you mean by that, but I also don't think it matter. We have no chose but to let them help," Mary said. Honestly, while she didn't trust any of them, the presence of the archangels gave her hope. There really wasn't any before. None of them could stop Michael, but four other archangels had a shot.

"They have every reason to want Michael dead," Castiel said.

Mary nodded. "Okay, well, with that out of the way, what's going on with my boys?"

"I suppose it was hard not to notice a difference with them. Things have been very tense since Lucifer showed up. Sam was the first one to show trust in him. He could identify with him, which is understandable because in certain ways, Sam was created to be like Lucifer. Dean was not happy, and he jumped to many conclusions. Without going into detail, as it is something you should hear it from them, it only escalated as time went on. Their issues became numerous, and now it's at the point where I'm not certain things can ever be the same between them again," Castiel said sadly. It bothered him that there was such a big rift between the two brothers. He'd known Sam and Dean to have issues with each other, but for the most part, they were as close as brothers could possibly be.

"Are you serious? You're telling me that while I was gone, the relationship between my sons has completely fallen apart?" Mary asked in disbelief.

"Nearly fallen apart anyway. They don't really talk anymore, and when they do, it is usually out of necessity and unpleasant," Castiel said. Sam went out of his way to speak with Dean, and Castiel couldn't really blame him for it. Dean was very much pushing his brother away with the way he was acting.

"Okay, thanks for telling me. I need to fix this right away," Mary said.

"I'm not certain you can," Castiel said.

"Watch me," Mary said in a firm tone before heading for the house. She wasn't even willing to put this off for another moment.


	38. Chapter 38

As soon as Mary walked through the door, she heard screaming from her two sons.

"Can't you go even a minute without acting like a dick?!" Sam asked angrily.

"Oh, yeah, go for it, Sammy. Defend your asshole lover and his siblings!" Dean yelled angrily.

"Would you two idgits knock it off?" Bobby asked. He was present for the whole thing, and found himself less than thrilled. They had enough to deal with without two morons going at each other.

"You calling anyone an asshole is rich right now! You've been nothing but an asshole for months!" Sam continued as if the alternate version of his surrogate father never spoke.

"Yeah, well, maybe if my brother didn't stick up for killers, I wouldn't be such an asshole. But that seems to be your MO, Sam. You always trust the wrong people!" Dean yelled.

Sam laughed loudly. "Oh, wow! Can you say the pot calling the kettle black?! Should I start with Crowley or your vampire BFF?"

Dean immediately threw a punch at his brother, hitting his square in the jaw.

Sam recovered quickly from the blow and followed up with a punch of his own.

Mary had seen enough. She immediately got in between her two sons before it could go any further. "Hey! Stop it! What is wrong with the two of you?!"

"There's nothing wrong with me. He's the one whose lost his freaking mind. Go ahead, Sammy. Tell her about your new archangel boyfriend," Dean goaded.

"How about I tell her how I can't wait until I can't wait to never have to see you again?!" Sam asked angrily. Okay, he didn't totally mean that. He wasn't at the point where he never wanted to see his brother again, but he was getting closer to that point every day.

Dean felt a pain to his chest at his brother's words, but he ignored it, and continued to glare at his brother. "Too bad I'm not letting you leave with those asshats!"

"Okay, that's enough! Dean, go outside!" Mary ordered. She needed to get to the bottom of this, and she had to do it by speaking to her boys separately. It was the only way to have a conversation without biting remarks and punches thrown. She decided to start with Sam because it was going to be easier to get information out of him right now.

"Fine," Dean said before storming out of the house.

Mary looked at Bobby. "Would you give us a couple of minutes?"

"Gladly. I'm glad I never had siblings," Bobby said before walking outside

Once he was gone, Mary turned to her son and pointed to the beat-up couch behind him. "Let's sit down."

Sam nodded and sat down on the couch.

Mary sat next to him. "How long have things been like this?"

"Well, they haven't been exactly like this. I've been trying to avoid it coming to this. But things have been tense for months," Sam said.

"Was what Dean said about an archangel boyfriend a metaphor?" Mary asked.

"Um… I guess that I should start by telling you that I've never had a sexual preference when it comes to gender. I hope you're okay with that. I know that in your time, things were much less tolerable on that," Sam said with more than a little bit of nervousness in his voice.

"Sam, I've known plenty of people who were gay or bi-sexual. It doesn't bother me," Mary assured him.

Sam let out the breath he didn't know he was holding in. "Thanks."

"It's Lucifer, I take it?" Mary asked. That part sort of bothered her. He might or might not be evil, but all Mary could picture was the bastard she'd gotten trapped here with. Plus, she had all the stories about the Devil in her head. How could she not worry about it?

"No. Why does everyone jump to that conclusion?" Sam asked in frustration.

"Calm down. I assumed because Cas told me things started to go back between you and Dean when Lucifer showed up," Mary told him.

"That's because Dean jumped to the conclusion that I wanted to be with him. He didn't even ask me. He just assumed, and when I said no, he basically accused me of lying," Sam said.

"Why did Dean think you wanted to be with Lucifer?"

"Because I didn't hate Lucifer. I confided in him. He's been a good friend to me, even an older brother, with the added bonus that he doesn't judge me," Sam said. He couldn't help but add that last part bitterly.

With that last comment, Mary got the feeling that this whole thing had very little to do with archangels. Sam was angry with Dean because of something he did. "Tell me what's been going on with you and your brother."

"I don't even know where to start, Mom. Dean does nothing but judge me. You saw him do it just now. When he said I trust the wrong people. I made a mistake in trusting a demon, and, yeah, it nearly ended the world, but I have done everything I can to make up for that. It's not enough for him. It never will be! He will never forgive me for what I did," Sam said. There were tears threatening to fall from his eyes when he was done.

"Did he tell you that?" Mary asked. She was hoping that Sam was assuming this, and that Dean hadn't actually said that. If it was misunderstanding, she could fix it. If not, she really wasn't sure.

"He finally admitted to me he's never gotten over it. He doesn't trust me, and he hasn't forgiven me. Its been eight years. If he hasn't gotten past it yet, he never will. I can't live with that anymore, Mom. I can't be around someone who will never look at me as anything other the guy no one can trust," Sam said.

Mary pinched the bridge of her nose. This was worse than she thought. She hadn't really believed Cas when he said this couldn't be fixed, but it sounded like it was definitely going to be difficult. Sam had reached his limit, and Mary couldn't blame him. He shouldn't have to live with Dean's judgements, no matter what mistakes he may have made. "I…I'll talk to Dean. We can fix this."

Sam shook his head. "No. It's too late. It's only gotten worse since Dean finally admitted the truth. I can't do this anymore. The archangel I'm with is Gabriel. He'd already planned to move to LA with Lucifer when this is over. I'm gonna go with them," Sam told her.

"Okay, I think you should slow down. Don't give up on fixing this yet," Mary said. She couldn't bear to see it end this way. She didn't want to see her kids hate each other to the point where they never spoke again.

"Mom, I've been trying to fix it for years. Dean doesn't want it to be fixed. He wants to pretend there isn't a problem. I can't anymore. I'm done. I don't want to be miserable anymore. I deserve to be happy," Sam said firmly.

Mary nodded. That much was true. Her son deserved happiness. "Leaving will make you happy?"

"Yeah. I love Gabriel. I want a life with him that doesn't include hunting. And if I don't get away from Dean, I will hate him. I'm already close to that now," Sam said.

Mary closed her eyes sadly. She wouldn't be able to change his mind, because even without the rift between the two brothers, Sam would still want to go. Dean was the push, but Sam would likely still leave to be with the person he loved. Mary had been there. She could understand it. "I want you to be happy. If you really believe this will make you happy, I will stand by you."

Sam immediately hugged her, glad to finally have a member of his family on his side. "Thanks, Mom."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Dean sat outside on the porch grumbling to himself. He was still pissed about the fight with Sam. The only plus was that now his mother would know. She'd help him make Sam see he was acting like an idiot. They would stop him from leaving.

Dean heard the door open and turned to see his mother.

"Let's go talk in the back," Mary said.

Dean nodded and lead the way towards the back of the house. "He tell you he thinks he's leaving with these dick angels?"

"He told me everything that's been going on lately. He said you've been fighting for a while, to the point where he can't be around you anymore. I can't exactly blame him for that," Mary said.

Dean stopped walking and gave his mother a shocked and betrayed look. He couldn't believe she was taking Sam's side. How could she not see that he was one screwing up?

"Would you want to be around someone who constantly judges you? Who has point blank said he can't trust you?" Mary asked as she stood in front of him.

Dean looked away. He couldn't deny that he'd said it, or that it was wrong. He couldn't help how he felt. He tried, but it was how he felt. He didn't trust Sam's judgement. But in his defense, Sam's choices lately backed up his lack of trust. "Maybe I'm wrong for not letting the apocalypse thing go, but he really doesn't make great decision."

"Who are you to judge his decisions? You don't know what decisions are right for him," Mary said.

"I know screwing an archangel isn't? You think he should be with the dude?" Dean asked.

"I don't know Gabriel," Mary said. She planned to rectify that soon. She wasn't just going to watch her son leave without having at least one private conversation with him.

"Well, I do. He's a dick. He's hurt Sam," Dean said.

"People hurt each other sometimes, even those they love. Mistakes happen," Mary said.

"This isn't like that. He…"

"It doesn't matter what Gabriel's done. This isn't about him. Whatever Gabriel has or hasn't done, Sam has chosen to forgive him for," Mary said.

"Yeah, which proves he doesn't make good decisions," Dean argued.

"No, it proves he's a decent person. Forgiveness isn't a flaw, Dean."

"I'm not just gonna let my brother take off with the Devil and his brother," Dean said firmly.

"You have no right to let Sam do anything. He is not a child. Right or wrong, he has the right to make his own choices, and you don't get a say in them," Mary said just as firmly.

Dean opened his mouth to argue, but he was cut off.

"Dean, I know you've spent your life looking out for Sam. For the most part, you did a great job. You've been the only real parent he had. But even a parent has to take a step back eventually," Mary told him.

"I can't just let him make the biggest mistake of his life," Dean said.

"If you try to stop him, you'll be making the biggest mistake of yours. Sam is leaving. There's nothing you can do about it. The only say you have is in how he sees you when he goes. Will he see you as the brother he looked after him his whole life? Will he look forward to seeing you again, or will he hope to never see you again? That's your only choice," Mary told him. She really hoped he heard her because if not, he was going to lose Sam, and not just by him moving away.

"And what if they hurt him? How can I just let him go off, knowing what they could do to him?" Dean asked.

"You're not afraid they're going to hurt him. You're afraid they're not. You're afraid he'll be happy, and that will mean you've lost him. But I have to tell you, Dean, you have a better shot at losing him by acting the way you are. Sam told me if he doesn't leave, he's gonna end up hating you. Is that what you want?" Mary asked.

"No," Dean said quietly.

"Then you need to think very carefully before you do anything else," Mary told before walking away. She'd said all she could. She could only hope that Dean listened to her.


	39. Chapter 39

Dean stood in the doorway of the kitchen and watched as his brother sat with Gabriel, Lucifer, and Amenadiel at the table. The archangels had fixed it up so it actually resembled a kitchen. What had basically been a condemned house before looked much more homey now.

It had been two days since they arrived in the other world, and since Dean's last fight with Sam. Since then, he'd been thinking about what his mother said nonstop. Everyone had said it, but somehow it was different coming from his mother. When your own mother told you that you were being a dick, it left a bigger impression. She hadn't said it in so many words, but it was basically what she'd said.

Dean was conflicted. He believed he was right about the archangels. They couldn't be trusted. That had been proved over and over again, so he believed that Sam was making a terrible choice. But his mother was in his head again, telling him that terrible or not, it was Sam's choice. He didn't have the right to make it for him. Sam had always hated his decisions being made for him. It was why he and their father had nearly come to blows so much. But how could Dean just sit back and watch him make what he believed was a horrible choice? But more than that, how could he simply just let his brother go?

Dean watched his brother with Gabriel. He watched him a lot with the archangel, and it only ever made him angry. He saw that Sam was choosing to be with an archangel that hurt them both, and he wasn't the least bit ashamed of it. It didn't bother him at all that Dean hated it, which only made him hate it more and become more angry about it.

This time, however, as Dean watched, he actually paid attention to what was going on. Sam was smiling and had a hand on Gabriel's. They spoke quietly for a minute, and then Gabriel leaned in to kiss him. Sam looked happy. He was happier than Dean had ever seen him. Not one single time in his life, did he seem that content.

In that moment, Dean wondered if his mother was right. Was it Sam's happiness that he feared the most? Was it the realization that if Sam left, he'd be happier? Was he really so much of a dick that he would begrudge his brother happiness? It was an easier question to answer than it should've been. Yeah, he was that much of a dick, especially lately. Sam couldn't be happy with him after everything that had gone down between them. He knew that, but he insisted on trying to force him. It wasn't fair, but Dean didn't know how to just stop.

Dean stood there for another minute or two before heading out of the room. He found Michael in the living room on the couch. Normally, he would've glared at the archangel or come at him with some kind of comment, but for the first time, he needed something from Michael. "Your relationship with Lucifer was the same as mine and Sam's. How do I do it? How do I let my brother go?"

Michael was shocked by the question, but he quickly recovered. "You realize that it's what's best for him, and that's your job. Though I can't pretend it wasn't different for me. It was either let my brother go or watch him die. As I believe you humans say, it was a no brainer."

"But it wrecked you," Dean pointed out.

"Of course, it did. Can you imagine having to cause your brother immense pain to save his life? Right or wrong, it kills you," Michaels said.

"Was it what it did to him or was it actually having to let him go?" Dean asked.

"It was probably a little bit of both. At the end of the day, it was what was best for him, and believe me, I understand the irony of that. That Hell could possibly be the best option. I still wrestle with that decision, even though I know it was the only one I had," Michael told him.

"I…I don't know if I can do this," Dean said miserably.

Michael sneered in response. He had no tolerance for this self-pitying human. "If you're looking for sympathy, you are talking to the wrong person. "I sent my brother to Hell! He was alone and filled with anger. He felt betrayed by the one person who was supposed to keep himself, and I mean me, not our father. Think about what that would be like, to have to banish your brother from this dimension, knowing he will hate you for the rest of his life! Don't whine to me because your brother wants to move away, to someplace he can be happy. You and I are not the same."

Dean said nothing. When it was put that way, what could he say? It was true. His dilemma wasn't even close to the one Michael had, and it wasn't like he had much of a choice anyway. As much as he yelled about stopping Sam from leaving, what could he really do?

Michael was about to get up and leave, but he suddenly sensed something. Actually, he sensed a lot of things. Angels.

Dean noticed as Michael's demeanor changed. "What?"

"They're here, or at least close," Michael said.

The others came in as well. Lucifer, Gabriel, Sam, and Amenadiel came in from the kitchen, and Castiel, Maze, Mary, Bobby, and a few others came from various other parts of the house. "Angels are close."

Just then, they all heard shooting and yelling coming from outside.

Lucifer smirked. "It sounds like it's time to put a stop to all of this.

His brother's nodded and summoned their blades.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Chuck was walking around the library of the bunker while Rowena watched the rift. "You know, there's no need to fret. I'd know if something tried to step through, and I've seen to it that it won't close."

"You have. So, this Grace is no longer necessary?" Rowena asked.

"Correct. Though it will be over long before the Grace is gone," Chuck said.

"Oh, Charles, I've missed you," Rowena said with a smile.

Chuck laughed. "You'll be the last person to say that today."

Just then, Jack walked into the room. "Um… God?"

Chuck turned and smiled at his grandson. "No need to be so formal, Jack. Nobody really calls me that anymore. Usually, people call me Chuck. Although, I'd prefer a little something different from you."

"G…Grandfather?" Jack asked, testing the word out nervously. When his grandfather smiled, he relaxed a little, though he was still nervous for other reasons. "I've made a decision."

"I know," Chuck said.

"I don't want to intrude, but a decision about what?" Rowena asked with nervousness of her own. She didn't know why, but this didn't seem like it would bode well for her. She was thinking very much about the Devil's threat to her should anything happen to his son.

"I've offered my grandson a gift. He's decided what he wants," Chuck said while grinning at Jack. He was proud of his grandson for the choice he was making. Not many would have the courage to ask for this.

"I couldn't wait until my father came back, could I?" Jack asked.

"I'm afraid not. He wouldn't allow it, and if he out and out forbid it, I would have to abide by his decision. He is your father," Chuck said.

"I figured that," Jack said before taking a folded piece of paper out of his paper. "I wrote this for him. I figured he should at least hear what I want and why."

Chuck took the letter and placed it in his own pocket. "I'll give it to him as soon as he stops trying to punch me. It might take time," he joked.

Jack managed a tiny smile. It was a big feat given how nervous and scared he was. "What will it feel like?"

"It won't hurt," Chuck promised.

"W…what are you going to do to him?" Rowena asked with alarm in her voice. Now she was certain this was going to end bad, both for her and the boy.

"I told you, Rowena, I would never hurt my grandson. He'll be fine," Chuck assured her.

"Well, sort of," Jack said. He couldn't help but feel like he was killing himself by doing this. Who he was now would be gone.

Chuck read his mind. "I can understand how you'd reach that conclusion, but it's not true."

"It kind of is. I won't remember. My life will be completely different. A part of me will be gone," Jack said with a shudder. His fears were creeping up. He was beginning to realize the severity of what he was about to do.

"You can change your mind, Jack. It's not too late," Chuck told him. He knew his grandson would not change his mind though.

Jack shook his head. "I don't fit in like this. I'm not really happy. I want to be happy, and I want my father to be happy. I think this is the only way we can be. It's the only way I can have a real life with him. I need to do this. Do it now, please. I don't think I can wait any longer.

Chuck stepped closer to his grandson and raised his hand.

"Wait. Since I won't be in any position to say it afterwards, will you tell my father I'm sorry if he's angry. I said it in the letter, but I'd like someone to tell him too," Jack said.

"Oh, he's definitely going to be angry, but that anger will be directed to me, not you," Chuck said before bringing his hand to Jack's forehead. A bright light immediately surrounded the boy.


	40. Chapter 40

Lucifer looked out the window to see about a hundred seraphs attacking the men outside. The other world's Michael was nowhere in sight, nor could Lucifer sense his Grace.

"We have to stop them," Dean said before heading out of the door, having already taken his gun and angel blade out. He'd kept both close from the moment they entered his world.

"Wait. Don't be an idiot," Lucifer said. It was too late by then. Dean was out the door. "Bloody Hell."

Lucifer immediately walked out, along with the others. They watched as several men were smote. "Michael, if you wouldn't mind. My Grace has improved greatly, but not enough to take out a hundred seraphs without putting me into a coma. But leave one alive."

Michael nodded and snapped his fingers. All accept for one angel imploded.

Lucifer immediately went to the last angel, who tried and failed to fly away. He picked him up the collar of his jacket and roughly brought him to his feet. "Hello, Virgil. So wonderful to see you. I see you're having some problems leaving."

"It's n…not possible. Michael took your Grace," Virgil said.

"I'm afraid that's a case of mistaken identity. I'm not too insulted though. It seems to happen often. Now, how about you send for Michael. See, we need to have a little chat with him. Oh, but do leave names out of the mix. I'll know if you don't," Lucifer said. To exercise his point, he brought his blade to the angel's throat.

"H…he'll kill me."

"Oh, no, you needn't worry about that. You'll already be dead by then. Consider it a mercy. I'll do it quickly. He won't," Lucifer said.

Terror appeared on Virgil's face. He knew one way or another, he would die today. But he'd known those who'd been subjected to both Michael and Lucifer when they were angry. They were far from merciful if they were fought. Lucifer was promising him a quick death. He'd take that over whatever either archangel might give him if he fought. So, he did what was commanded of him. "He's coming."

"Thank you," Lucifer said before stabbing the angel in the chest and watching the bright white eyes leave him. He didn't like killing any angel, but the ones in this world were out of control, they needed to be stopped.

Lucifer turned to his brothers. "Stifle your Grace. Let's surprise the bastard."

All three of the remaining archangels nodded and vanished their blades.

"I would suggest all humans leave now," Amenadiel said.

"We're not going anywhere," Dean said firmly.

"We ain't being driven away either," Bobby stated.

"Then we're not responsible if any of you end up dead," Michael said.

Just then, they all heard a flutter of wings before the other version of Michael appeared right in front of Lucifer. "Well, I see you've returned, and you've managed to get your Grace back. You'd think you would've been smarter than that. Was beating you twice not enough?"

Lucifer laughed. "Look who's talking. You can't even tell the difference." His Michael had been crazy as hell for months, and he still knew the difference. There was obviously a deficiency in this version.

Alternate Michael sneered in response. "Not only have you come back here after I beat you, you're working with humans. You sure have fallen far, brother."

"Have I? Look at you. The commander of Heaven, the archangel who bowed down and promised to protect humanity, has destroyed it. Well, at least you tried to," Lucifer said.

"These people aren't worth protecting. You said so yourself. But you weren't either. You were nothing but a whining little brat. I should've let father kill you, like he wanted," the alternate Michael snarled.

Michael barely kept the façade up. He wanted to defend his brother, and he wanted to smite the other version of himself. How could this being even consider having let something like that happen? He would never allow anyone to harm his little brother.

"But I finally killed you, and I will again. After I use you to enter your world," Alternate Michael said with a smug look on his face.

"Are you certain of that? I mean that you killed your world's me. See, because I think you killed the imposter, and I'm somewhere with a blond on each arm," Lucifer said.

Alternate Michael laughed. "Yes, I heard that theory. That you created some being and infused your Grace into it. It was very inventive, even if utterly ridiculous. Anyway, how should we do this? You could just give in, and then I'd make your death quick, or we could go the way I'd prefer, where I beat you again before stealing your Grace and killing you."

"I've got a better way," Lucifer said before turning and nodded to his brothers.

Michael, Amenadiel, and Gabriel all summoned their blades again and allowed there Grace out.

Alternate Michael gaped in shock. "It's not possible."

"Don't be stupid. Of course, it is. You knew there was another world, one you've wanted to inhabit to change. Is it so farfetched that they would want to come here to stop you?" Lucifer asked.

Without saying a word, alternate Michael used his Grace to send Lucifer flying backwards into the house.

The other three archangels immediately attacked.

Alternate Michael grabbed Gabriel by the arm as he raised his blade to him and punched him hard, sending him back several feet.

Sam immediately ran to help his boyfriend.

Michael and alternate Michael both grabbed each other. "You should be on my side. We are the same," alternate Michael said.

"I will never be like you! I would sooner die than see the world come to this. I would sooner die than harm my own brother the way you claim to have yours!" Michael said. Yes, he had tried to do so do to his own insanity, something he still wrestled with, but this monster seemed gleeful about what he'd done. He had no qualms about killing the angel he'd raised.

"Then you're weak! He deserved it! These insects deserve it! They are undeserving of what they've been given!" Alternate Michael snarled.

Just then, Amenadiel launched a punch at the alternate version of his twin. "You think you're deserving? You are everything I misjudged my twin for being. You're an idiot who thinks he is entitled to whatever he wants!

Alternate Michael pulled himself up and smirked. "I am. I am the leader of Heaven. My word, my rule, is law."

"Not anymore," Michael said.

"I will not allow you to destroy what I've worked for. I will kill all of you! Then I will go to your world and rule of that one, as I have here. I hear there's also a young Nephilim there for me to get my hands on.

Lucifer gripped alternate Michael by the back of the neck. "You will never so much as see my son's face!"

Alternate Michael laughed. "What do you think he will say when I tell him I've destroyed you, and that he now belongs to me?" he asked. He grabbed him by the arm that held his blade and used his other arm to grab onto his alternate brother's head in an attempt to smite him. Before he could do it though, he was thrown through the air.

Michael and Amenadiel approached him. "You are certainly cocky. There are three of us, yet you think you can beat us?"

Alternate Michael laughed and pulled himself to his feet. "I think my odds are pretty good. You can't kill me. You think exactly like me. Lucifer and Gabriel are too low on Grace. I can feel it. That leaves Amenadiel. He's just as powerful as me, and he's a coward. I think I'll be fine." He used his power of telekinesis to throw both Michael and Amenadiel away from him.

Lucifer circled around his alternate brother.

"I figured I'd start with you. Kill you just as I did the first time," Michael said smugly.

Lucifer laughed. "Still thinking you killed me. It's quite hilarious."

"I did, just as the prophecy said."

"Ah, but that's not exactly what it said. Father predicted that one of us would kill the other, not which one would die. You know, at first, I thought it was subjective, and that it wouldn't actually happen. After all, I had no intention of falling Dad's plane. I'm sure the Winchesters even believed they'd circumvented it, but I wonder if it's happening, nonetheless. Perhaps this is the moment the final plan speaks of. It never did say what world it would take place in, did it?" Lucifer asked.

"It doesn't matter. I'll still win," Alternate Michael said.

"Well, let us see how that theory works out," Lucifer said before lifting his arm and going to stab the other archangel with it.

Alternate Michael summoned his own blade and did the same. He managed to dodge the jab from Lucifer and stab him in the arm.

Lucifer yelled out in pain, but he wasn't deterred. He kicked Alternate Michael in the arm, causing him to drop his blade, before grabbing him by the throat.

Alternate Michael tried again to smite Lucifer, but Lucifer was quicker. He pulled his sword back and plunged it into alternate Michael's chest, causing a bright white light to engulf his vessel.

Lucifer let him fall to the ground and watched as the outline of his wings was burned into it.

The three archangels immediately ran to Lucifer's side. "Samael, are you okay?"

"Yes. Apparently, the smug bastard was wrong about who would be the winner," Lucifer said before grabbing onto his bleeding arm. It wouldn't do any lasting damage, as it wasn't a fatal wound, but it still bloody hurt.

"Let me see," Michael said before removing his brother's hand and placing his own over the wound.

Lucifer felt a coolness his arm before the pain went away entirely. "Very much appreciated, brother."

Michael nodded and looked down at his dead alternate self. "I can't believe how different he was. Did he lose his mind worse than I did? Could that have been me if I wasn't locked in the Cage?" He never thought he would be grateful for being locked in the cage and tortured, but if it kept him from becoming this monster, he was glad it happened.

"It doesn't matter. It wasn't you," Lucifer told him.

Meanwhile, Mary and Dean walked over to Sam and Gabriel. "It's finally over," Dean said.

"Yeah," Sam said. It felt like they were in limbo for nearly a year over this whole alternate world thing. Actually, if Sam was being honest, he'd felt like he was in limbo most of his life over one thing or another. Now, he was going to have a chance to move on from that.

The others, including Bobby and Maze soon joined them. "I take it you'll all be going home now."

"You should come to. You can start fresh," Mary said. She'd grown very fond of Bobby since he'd helped rescue her. She didn't want to say goodbye.

Bobby shook his head. "I gotta fix things here. We've got a chance to start over now. Sorry."

"I understand. I'd probably feel the same way," Mary said before hugging her friend.

"If there are any angels left, they will likely flee back to Heaven. You will have a chance to start over," Michael said.

Bobby pulled away from Mary and looked at them. "Won't deny being skeptical about you people, but you came through, even if you had your own agendas. Thanks."

Michael nodded. "I can't deny not caring much for humans, but none of you deserved this."

"Alright, let's get out of here. It's time to return home. I can already hear LA calling for me," Lucifer said. He'd missed home. The Bunker was terribly boring compared, and though he wouldn't admit out loud, he was anxious to see a certain detective again.

"He's right, we should go," Amenadiel said.

They all said their goodbyes and headed back to the rift.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Rowena was quite anxious as she waited for everyone to come back through the rift. Charles had told her that it would be any second now, and she was not looking forward to it. She just knew she was going to be blames for what God had 'gifted' Jack. She certainly wouldn't call it a gift, even if Jack had asked for it, and she doubted Lucifer would.

Honestly, Rowena could hardly believe Jack had asked for this. Who would want that? It was the most insane thing anyone could ever ask for, but apparently the boy had. She supposed it didn't really matter. All that mattered was that she was going to subjected to much anger from the Devil himself.

Rowena watched, and Dean came through the rift first, followed by Sam. "Boys, you're back. Good, there's a little problem."

Dean narrowed his eyes at her. He didn't want a problem. They just took care of the last of months' worth of freaking problems. He didn't want to deal with anything for at least a month. "What problem, and better be something I can deal with quickly.

Sam, meanwhile, turned towards the man he saw seated in a chair a few feet away. "Holy crap."

Before anything else could be said, Mary stepped through, followed by Castiel, Maze, and the four archangel's one by one.

"I just want to say this is not my fault," Rowena said.

"What not your…?" Lucifer cut himself off when he felt it. Suddenly there was sheer power coming from the room, power he'd only ever felt from one being.

"Welcome home, boys," a voice suddenly said.

Lucifer turned to see his father sitting to right holding his son. At least it looked like his son, but he boy was much, much younger than Lucifer left him.


	41. Chapter 41

Lucifer stared at his father in shock. He couldn't speak, nor could he move. He was shell-shocked. Not only was he staring at his father for the first time in eons, but the bastard had his child. And he was a child. Actually, a baby would be more accurate, as he didn't even look a year old at the moment. And Lucifer was fairly certain the child was Jack. Despite the fact that he was much, much younger than the teenage looking boy Lucifer had left, he looked exactly like his son.

The other inhabitants of the Bunker were rendered just as speechless as Lucifer was. No one had any idea how to react to what had apparently happened while they were gone.

Lucifer didn't know how long her stood there with a stupefied expression on his face, but eventually, his brain caught up with him, and one fact remained clear to him. His child was in the arms of his father, and he would be damned if he let that continue for even a single moment longer. "Give him to me!"

Michael grabbed his brother's arm as he went to approach their father. "Samael, don't!"

"Michael, get off me!" Lucifer demanded before glaring at his father. "Give me my child, now!"

Jack began to cry in Chuck's arms as tensions began to rise.

"Son, calm down. You're upsetting him," Chuck said as he stood up with the boy.

"Then hand him over," Gabriel said through gritted teeth.

"Very well," Chuck said before stepping forward.

Michael stood cautiously by his brother's side, ready to intervene if his father tried anything.

As soon as his son was in reaching distance, Lucifer snatched him from his father's arms.

Michael immediately pushed them both behind him and stood in front of them protectively.

"Chuck, what the hell did you do?" Dean asked. He had just barely recovered from the shock that the kid they left behind was now an infant.

Lucifer, meanwhile, cradled his child in his arms while looking over him. "Jack?"

"I don't understand. What's wrong?" Mary asked. Everyone else seemed to know something she didn't. She didn't know who that man, chuck, was, or why there was so much concern over the baby.

"What's wrong is this asshole just did something to Lucifer's kid," Maze said with an intense glare at short man, who clearly was more powerful than he looked.

"But he looks fine. He looks like a healthy nine-month-old," Mary said.

"The problem is that when we left, he looked no younger than fifteen. It's a long story, Mom," Sam said.

Lucifer glared at his father, his eyes shining red. "What have you done to my child?!"

"Relax, Samael. Your child is fine," Chuck said in an attempt to appease him. It had the opposite result.

"You call this fine?!" Lucifer asked angrily.

"You turned the kid into a baby," Dean said in disbelief. It was rare for him to agree with Lucifer about anything, but he got the dude's anger. The kid was most definitely not fine.

"No, he was already a baby. A nine-month-old is an infant even by human standards," Chuck said.

Jack started to cry again.

Sam walked over to Lucifer. "Lucifer, let me take him. You're really angry right now, and I don't think you want to upset him."

Lucifer looked at Sam and hesitated. It wasn't that he didn't trust Sam. He trusted the human as much as his own brothers. Sam had essentially looked after Jack by himself for months. But the last time Lucifer left his son in someone else's care… well, this happened.

"I'm not gonna let anything happen to him," Sam promised.

Reluctantly, Lucifer handed his now baby son over to Sam, who immediately brought him upstairs to the second layer of the library. That way he was still close enough to Lucifer, but hopefully far enough away that Jack wouldn't be too upset.

With his son far away from the fighting, Lucifer advanced on his father, or at least he tried. He found Michael's arms surrounding him after just a couple of steps. "You bastard! Why would you do this?!"

"Because it was what he wanted," Chuck said calmly.

"Come on, Chuck. I'm pretty sure he didn't want to be turned into a baby. You basically killed him," Dean said.

"Hey, you mind not making this more dramatic than it already is?" Amenadiel asked while glaring at the hunter. This situation was already more than tense. They didn't need to make it worse by blowing an already bad situation out of proportion.

"He wanted it," Chuck said before taking Jack's letter out of his pocket. "He wrote this for you, Samael."

Lucifer shrugged Michael off of him and snatched the letter out of his father's hand.

"Rowena can back me up as well," Chuck said.

Rowena winced when all eyes met hers. She was content to be completely forgotten as all attention was on God. "He did seem to want it, and he seemed to appreciate the possible consequences."

"Why? Why would he want that?" Castiel asked.

"Why would anybody want that?" Maze asked.

"He was a baby in the body of a teenager. He didn't feel like he belonged, and he wasn't wrong," Chuck said before turning to his son. "Samael, you must have noticed. You know I'm telling you the truth. Jack didn't feel like he fit in this world as he was, and he wasn't wrong. His circumstances were strange, even for a Nephilim."

"So, you took it upon yourself to fix the situation. You decided out of the goodness of your heart to give him what he wanted more than anything. I don't buy that. What are you expecting in return, Father?" Michael demanded to know.

"Woah! This is God?!" Mary asked in disbelief.

Dean nodded.

"Michael, I know you don't think much of me. I can't even say you're wrong for that. I've made many mistakes," Chuck said.

Gabriel snorted. "Yeah, mistakes. Trying to murder your kid is apparently a mistake these days."

"Yes, and this is another one. Fix it, now!" Lucifer demanded.

"No," Chuck said in a firm tone. "You're too angry to see it right now, but this is what is best for Jack."

Lucifer advanced forward and punched his father in the face. "Who are you to decide what is best for my son?!"

Michael grabbed his brother and pulled him behind him once again. The last thing they needed was to anger their father too much. Michael hated the man, but he knew what he could do to his brother. He knew what he'd originally planned to do.

"Relax, Michael. It's not like I don't know I deserved it. And I'm not gonna hurt your brother, so you can stop shielding him," Chuck said.

"I will never stop protecting him from you!" Michael said with a sneer.

"Look, I know that none of you trusts me all that much, and I don't blame you. You have good reasons to hate me," Chuck said.

"Why did you want to kill Lucifer?" Amenadiel asked.

"I didn't want to, son. I thought I had no choice. I didn't think there was anything that could save him. I thought killing him was the most merciful thing I could do for him," Chuck answered.

Lucifer snorted. "Merciful? You'd call anything that you did mercy?"

"You were out of control," he said.

"Whose fault is that?!" Lucifer asked angrily.

"I'm not disputing the fact that it was my fault. I thought you'd be able to handle the Mark for Amara's prison. I was devastatingly wrong," Chuck said sadly.

"Indeed. And the kicker is that you forgave her. After all of it, you let her go in the end! Oh, and not even just that. You had the nerve to tell that bloody abomination that you were sorry for what you did to me! To me!" Lucifer said furiously.

"I told it what I had to to get it to help us with Amara."

"Hold on a second," Dean interrupted. "You knew the whole time that that thing was not Lucifer. Why the hell didn't you share that information? Why did you pretend it was your son?"

"I just answered that. I did what was necessary to get help in stopping Amara," Chuck said.

"Why not just ask the real thing?" Dean asked.

"I wasn't willing to risk his life. I didn't care about a being that never should've existed in the first place. It was expendable. My son was not," Chuck said strongly.

"Yes, now you say that," Lucifer said with a bitter laugh.

"Samael…"

"Stop calling me that!" he ordered.

"What I said to that abomination, I meant. I am sorry, son. I never dreamed of how badly it end when I gave you that mark, and when the worst happened, I didn't think there was any possible way that you could come back from it. In my eyes, the Mark was killing you. It was killing everything that made you who you were, and when it was done, the Mark would be all that was left. I couldn't bare to see that, so I decided it would be more humane to end it quickly," Chuck explained.

Lucifer looked away. He didn't know what to say. He got the apology he'd been waiting thousands of years for, but it wasn't what he was hoping for. He was still really angry. Part of that was, of course, because of what his father had just done with his son, but it was also because his father's explanation just wasn't good enough, and it wasn't prompt enough.

"And you didn't try to come up with another way?" Michael asked.

"Of course, I did, but there wasn't one, at least not one I could think of," Chuck said.

"Well, it seems I'm smarter than you are then, Father," Lucifer said.

Chuck smiled. "It seems so."

"If you're expecting us to forgive you, keep dreaming. You destroyed our lives," Michael said.

"I don't expect forgiveness from any of you. I just wanted you to understand what happened, and that I am sorry," Chuck said.

"Yeah? How about leaving Mike and me to be tortured? You sorry for that?" Gabriel asked angrily.

"Gabriel, as horrible as what you went through was, it brought you to where you are now. It gave you a chance to find happiness. Do you think you would've made it back to Sam if anything was different?" Chuck asked.

Gabriel just stared at him. There wasn't much he could say. He didn't know what would've happened if things had been different, but he didn't want to think of an outcome where he didn't have Sam.

"As for you, Michael, no option was going to end well for you. You were out of control too, and I know it wasn't your fault, but you'd lost touch with reality. I let things play out as a way containing you," Chuck explained.

"What now?" Amenadiel asked.

"Now, I think it's time for me to go home. Any of you are welcome to come back whenever you want, and I do mean any of you," Chuck said while looking at Samael.

"You're out of your mind if you think that will happen," Lucifer said.

"I don't expect it right now," Chuck said.

"What about my son?" Lucifer asked.

"Jack will grow up the way he was meant to. The way he wants to. He'll have the chance to experience life like every other child does. It's what he wanted. I won't undo it. I've also made his Grace dormant until he's grown. This way he really has the chance to be normal. Of course, that means he's susceptible all human weaknesses. Now, I've provided you with everything you need to take care of him until you go home," Chuck said.

"I should hope so. It's the least you can do," Gabriel muttered.

"One more thing, Samael…"

"My name is Lucifer," he immediately interrupted.

"What I showed you when I brought you back after the Malcolm Graham incident…"

"Yes, I know. You want me to sent Mother back to Hell," Lucifer interrupted again. He was less inclined to do that now. His mother didn't actually abandon him. She'd urged for him to be sent back to Hell to save his life. Of course, he did still worry she'd be out to get him after he'd left her there to be tortured.

"No, that was just a warning. I wanted you to know she'd escaped. What you decide to do is up to you, but you should be careful around her," Chuck warned.

"If that's not what you want for saving me, what do you want?" Lucifer asked.

"I don't want anything. I saved you because you asked me too. That's all. I know you don't believe me, but I love all of you. Goodbye, boys," he said before disappearing.


	42. Chapter 42

Dean walked into the kitchen and found Sam sitting at the table. He went to the fridge and pulled two beers from it before walking over to the table. He put one beer in front of Sam and sat across from him. "I figured we could both use a drink after the last few days. Hell, after the last few months."

"Thanks, but I think I should go start packing," Sam said.

Dean flinched slightly as his brother's talk of leaving, but he recovered quickly. You've probably got time. Lucifer's still reeling from the crap with Chuck, and now having his kid turned into baby. It might be a few days."

Sam looked at his brother. "That's the first time you haven't mentioned forcing me to stay."

"We both know I would never be able to stop you. I was kidding myself. Dad couldn't even stop you from leaving. What hope did I have?" Dean asked before taking a sip of his beer. "Look, I still don't know if taking off with a bunch of archangels is a good idea, but I get that it's not for me to decide."

"Well, that would be a first," Sam said.

"Look, it's not easy for me, okay? I'm about to watch you go off with a bunch of angels I don't trust, most of which have given us reason not to trust him," Dean said.

"If you're gonna go after Gabriel again…"

"I'm not," Dean cut him off. "I get it, okay? I'm apparently a slow learner, but I get that I can't stop you from being with him. I don't like it, but I don't have a say in it, and truthfully, I know I shouldn't try. I finally watched the two of you, and I don't think I've ever seen as happy as when you're with him."

Sam relaxed considerably. "Thank you."

"Honestly, while I especially don't want you to go off the Devil and his siblings especially, I would've fought it no matter who you went with. I would've fought it if you went solo," Dean said. He'd told himself it was about who Sam was going with, but in truth, it was that he was going at all. And, yes, Sam had gone off on his own before, but this was different. This time, Dean knew that it wasn't just going to be for a few weeks. Sam wasn't coming back, at least not permanently.

"I can't stay here anymore, Dean," Sam said.

"I know that. I know that nothing I'm gonna say to you will make you change your mind. I could tell you how sorry I am, and I am, and I could tell you that I'll never bring up the apocalypse again, or question your decisions again, and you'd still leave. And truthfully, that last part, I can't do. And I think I can finally tell you why. The apocalypse destroyed you. It did both of us. It nearly ended the world, and it caused you years of pain. I couldn't bear for that to happen again, so I never let it leave my mind I keep it close whenever I think there's a risk of it happening again," Dean said. He'd been thinking about since his talk with his mother, and that was the answer he came up with. He couldn't' risk Sam making another bad decision, so, in the end, he ended up holding the ones had made against him.

"That's not fair, Dean. You've made horrible decisions that have affected us too!" Sam said in a raised tone.

"I know that," Dean said quickly. "I always find a way to justify my bad choices. I say I make them for you, as if that makes it different. I convince myself that it's different when I make a bad decision than when you do. A part of me still believes it is."

Sam glared at him. "You're right, it is different. When you make a mistake, there's no one there to hold it against you for the rest of your life. I might get angry, but I get over it. You never do. You hold it over my head."

Dean nodded sadly. "I feel like I have to. I feel like the best way for me to look out for you is to make sure you don't screw up, and the best way to do that is to remind you of your mistakes."

"I am not a child, Dean! And even if I was, I it wouldn't help me for you to throw my screwups in my face!" Sam yelled.

"I know. I know that I don't treat you the way you deserve. A lot of times, I still treat you like the little kid I took care of when we were kids. You told me once that I had to stop. You said I had to let you grow up. I said that I would, but I didn't. I don't think I will ever really be able to if you stay," Dean admitted. It was a hard thing for him to admit, but now that they were sitting there talking about it, he realized that this had to happen. They had to move away from each other if their relationship was going to survive.

Sam stared at his brother for a few moments, taking in what Dean was telling him. "We've been all each other really had for too long. We can't keep going on like this."

"No, we can't," Dean said before picking up his beer and drinking the rest of it in a couple of gulps. "It's only gonna get worse. If we keep going like this, one of is going to hate the other, and it's probably gonna be you hating me. If you leaving is gonna prevent that, then as much as I hate it, you gotta go. I don't want you to hate me, Sammy."

"Me either," Sam said.

Just then, Mary walked into the room. "Hey, guys. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," Sam said before opening his beer and taking a sip. "It's as okay is it's gonna get."

"Good," Mary said with some relief in her voice. She'd been afraid of another fight breaking out between her two sons.

Lucifer soon entered the room holding a crying Jack. Lucifer looked more than a little stressed as tried to comfort his son.

"Is he okay?" Sam asked Lucifer.

"I don't know. He won't stop crying. I can't figure out what's wrong with him," Lucifer said. He'd been trying to console Jack for the past twenty minutes to no avail.

"I thought you've taken care of kids before," Dean said.

"I took care of Gabriel when he was a fledgling. Fledglings are different than human children. They have ways of telling us what they want," Lucifer said.

"So do babies. You just have to learn what those ways are. For now, you use the process of elimination. Maybe he's hungry," Mary suggested.

"Okay. What do I feed him? Just anything?" Lucifer asked.

Mary rolled her eyes. "No, not anything. Babies his age can handle some soft foods, baby food and, formula. For now, you should just try a bottle. That should do him until the morning. I'm guessing you don't know how to prepare a bottle though."

Lucifer shook his head.

"Give the baby to the boys and I'll show you. God, who I still can't believe I just met, said he provided everything, so it should be here," Mary said before opening a cupboard and finding a bottle and some formula.

Lucifer handed Jack to Sam and followed the woman.

Sam bounced the crying baby on his lap. "It's okay, Jack."

Jack continued to cry in response.

Dean stood up and held his arms out. "Give him here, Sammy. I'm way better at this than you."

Sam immediately handed the boy over. Dean did have much more experience with kids than he did.

"Shh. Yeah, I get it. I don't like waiting for food either," Dean said. He held the baby so that he was standing on his legs.

Jack quieted a little. He was still fussy, but he was screaming anymore.

"How'd you do that?" Lucifer asked as he looked over at them.

"He's calm. Babies can tell when you're about to lose it. That just makes them lose it even more," Mary said.

"Man, I can't believe this is the same kid that was the same height as me a few days ago. You're braver than me, kid. I never could've done this," Dean said as he looked at the boy.

It took Mary about five minutes to show Lucifer how to prepare a bottle for Jack. "From now on, you may want to prepare them ahead of time. That way he's not so cranky waiting to eat."

Lucifer held the bottle of liquid to the level of his face and stared at it disgustedly. "This does not look appetizing. I'm supposed to feed this to my child."

Mary chuckled. "It tastes fine to him."

Just then, Michael and Gabriel walked in. "Hey. What's going on?" Gabriel asked.

"Lucifer's getting a crash course in preparing a baby bottle," Sam said.

"Alright, now you'll wanna make sure it's not too hot," Mary told Lucifer.

Lucifer waved a hand over it, using his Grace. "It's fine."

"Okay, I suppose you can cheat," Mary said dryly.

Lucifer went over and took Jack from Dean. He cradled him in his lap and held the bottle to his lips. He'd seen parents feed babies before like this, so he assumed this was the procedure.

Jack immediately opened his mouth and accepted the bottle. He stopped crying immediately.

Mary smiled at the pair. There was nothing more adorable than watching a father feed his son, even when the father was the Devil. "You've got it. Within a few days, he'll probably even hold the bottle himself. Usually babies his age have it down pat by now. He probably just needs a few days, since he's not as used to this as most his age. Either that or just likes making Daddy do the heavy lifting."

"Like father, like son," Michael said with a smile as he reached out and touched the boy's arm.

Jack reached over and grabbed ahold of Michael's finger.

"Hi, little one," Michael cooed.

Lucifer stared down at his son as he fed him. "Why did you do this, child? Why would you give up your life like this?"

"It's okay, Luci," Gabriel said.

"I…I feel like I've lost him," Lucifer said sadly.

"No, you didn't lose him, little brother. He's in your arms right now. He might be a little different than he was, but he's still here," Michael assured him.

"I just don't understand," Lucifer said distressed.

"Have you read his letter?" Gabriel asked.

"No. I'm not sure I want to," Lucifer said. He felt like reading that letter would be like reading his son's last words. He couldn't bear the thought of doing that.

"You should, Lucifer. You said you don't understand. Maybe you need to hear his words to understand," Sam said.

"Perhaps," Lucifer said before looking back down at his son, as he contently continued to eat.


	43. Chapter 43

Gabriel walked into the kitchen in late that night. He was craving for sweets, per usual. He raided the fridge and pulled out a piece of cherry pie Dean had had in there from before they left the world to deal with alternate Michael. He grinned. He would be killing two birds with one stone. Satisfying his sugar craving and annoying Dean.

Gabriel was about to dig in when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned to see Mary Winchester in the doorway.

"Sam told me you had a giant sweet tooth," Mary said from her place in the doorway.

Gabriel winced. So far, he'd avoided being alone with Sam's mother. That had apparently ended, not that Gabriel thought he could keep it up forever. "Posed as a Trickster for centuries. It was natural that I'd pick up a few things from that life."

"Dean will be pissed you're eating his pie," Mary commented.

"Yeah," Gabriel said with a grin.

"I see you're as big a fan of my son as he is of you," she said.

"Oh, I'm a huge fan of your son, just not that one," Gabriel said before taking a bite of his pie.

"I'm glad I came across you down here. I thought we should talk without anyone else around," Mary said.

Knowing there was no way for him to get out of this, Gabriel reluctantly nodded and went over to the table to sit down.

Mary sat across from him. "I know very little about you aside from that you're Sam's boyfriend, and that Dean doesn't like you."

"Well, Dean doesn't like a lot of people," he said.

"True. He's not very trusting, but from what I've heard, he has his reasons for not liking you. He says you've hurt my son," Mary said with a slight edge to her voice.

"Well, he's one to talk, but I can't deny that that's true. I was trying to save Sam from pain that would be even worse than what I was inflicting on him. I was also trying to protect my brother. I took extreme measures. It was a mistake that didn't even work. Believe me, there's nothing regret more," Gabriel said honestly. For as long as he lived, and that could end up being a very long time, it would always be the biggest mistake he'd ever made.

Mary could tell he meant that. She could see the regret and pain in his eyes. Plus, she'd seen how he was with Sam now. There was no doubt that he loved her son. "I don't know what you did. I think it's probably better that I don't. I don't think I'd be able to stop myself from hating you and wanting to hurt you over it, and that would upset Sam. He's had enough drama lately. Besides, I wasn't here for it, so I probably shouldn't judge you for it."

"Thank you. For what it's worth, I have paid for it in many ways, mostly through knowing what I put Sam through," Gabriel said.

"But if you ever do anything in the future that causes my son pain, I don't care if you're an archangel, I will make you suffer for it," Mary warned.

"Yes, Ma'am," Gabriel said. He got the feeling that she would succeed. She would find a way to kick his ass if he hurt Sam again.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Lucifer sat on his bed with the latter Jack wrote to him before he was changed in his hand. Jack was in a playpen, which he assumed was courtesy of his father, at the foot of the bed.

Lucifer stared at the letter for several moments. He knew he needed to read it, but these were the last words his son would ever say. Well, as he was before anyway. While the baby feet away from him was proof that his son was still with him, he wouldn't be the same as the boy he'd been looking after for the past several months. This child would have a life that was much different than his. The young man he once was would pretty much cease to exist

Lucifer took a deep breath and unfolded the letter. He immediately began to read.

 _Father,_

 _I know you're angry, maybe at me, and definitely at your father. I'm sorry if you're mad at me. Well, sort of. I'm not sorry for what I've done, but I'm sorry you're mad, and probably hurt. I didn't want to hurt you or make you mad, but I needed to do this._

 _Before I go on, I want you to know that this was my decision. Your father may have told you that, but I know you might not believe him. It was my choice. He offered me anything I wanted. Other than knowing my mother, which he told me I couldn't have, this was the thing that came into my mind._

 _I didn't make this decision lightly. I thought about it. I'd thought about it even before God showed up and offered me a gift. Of course, before then, it was a dream. I wondered what it would be like to grow up the right way. I never thought it could actually happen._

 _I can't deny that I'm scared to do this. It's like giving up my whole life. But I believe this is the right decision. I'm not supposed to be this way. I don't fit in the way I am. You and everyone else keeps telling me I'm a child, and I know that I am, but I don't feel that way. It's too hard to live as a child when physically, I'm not._

 _I believe this is the best choice I can make for both of us. I can grow up the way every other kid does. I can be the child I know I am, and I know you'll give me a good life. You already do. Meeting and getting to know you was the best thing that ever happened to me, even though, I admit, there wasn't much to compare it to before. Before I knew you, I thought I was the son of a terrible being that wanted to hurt everyone I cared about. I was afraid of being like that being. When I found out you were my father, I started to believe that maybe I could be good._

 _You've given me so much, Father, and I know you still will. I believe this can be a gift for both of us. You can be my father the way you're supposed to. I hope you'll understand why I did this after reading this letter._

 _Love Jack,_

There were tears coming down Lucifer's face by the time he was finished. It was hard for him to read those words. It was hard to hear how his son had been feeling. He knew Jack had some trouble accepting his age, given how grown up he looked, but he didn't know it was so much that he wanted to become an actual baby, nor did he know Jack had been thinking about it even before the offer was presented it to him. Lucifer wished Jack had told him. He'd wished he'd known how much his child was actually struggling.

Lucifer couldn't deny that he himself had thought about Jack being the age he was supposed to be. Many times, he felt it was best that he didn't raise Jack, frightful that he would mess the boy up, as he knew nothing about raising human children. However, there were also many times when he found himself wistful. He yearned to watch his child grow.

Just then, Jack began to fuss from the playpen.

Lucifer winced a bit, unsure of what to do. He was still very anxious around the baby, not knowing what his child needed, since he couldn't actually tell him.

Lucifer went over to the playpen and picked the baby up. "What is it, child? You can't be hungry. I just fed you a little while ago. You should really be sleeping. I'm certain it's past your bedtime. Though I suppose deciding that is my call."

Jack stopped crying as soon as he was in his father's arms and smiled.

"Oh, you just wanted to be picked up, didn't you? Aren't you a sly little one? You just wanted Father's attention," Lucifer said as he carried him back to the bed and sat down. "I suppose I should actually start teaching you to call me Daddy. It will be much easier for you to learn to say. And if I'm being honest, I'd prefer you call me Daddy anyway. 'Father' reminds me too much of my old man."

Jack let out a squeal of delight.

Lucifer smiled and stared at the boy. He had such a big smile on his tiny face. He'd never seen his son smile like that. Jack smiled from time to time, but not like this. This was the smile of pure innocence, which unfortunately, he'd lost in his teenage body just after birth.

Lucifer settled the child on his lap and held him close. "Alright. Perhaps this is for the best."


	44. Chapter 44

A couple of days later, everyone stood in the library ready to say goodbye. Everyone was present except for Amenadiel, who had made a separate trip to Lucifer's penthouse to deliver all of the baby things.

Mary went over and hugged her son. "I'm going to miss you. You make sure to call us come visit, and you better believe we'll be coming to visit you."

"I promise, Mom," Sam said as he hugged her back.

Mary pulled away after a minute. "I love you."

"I love you too," he said.

Dean approached Sam next. "You probably don't particularly want to say goodbye to me."

Sam shook his head. "That's not true. No matter what, you're still my brother."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I've put you through, and I'm sorry I don't know how to stop," Dean said.

"It's not all your fault. You were put in a position at a young age that you never should've been," Sam said. As angry as he'd been, he knew a lot of what broke between them was because Dean was forced to take on a role that should never have been his.

"I don't regret taking care of you. You needed me, and I'm glad I was there to be what you needed. I'm just sorry that I can't be what you need now," Dean said.

"You are. By letting me go, you are?" Sam said before hugging his brother.

Dean hugged his brother back tightly.

Once the two brothers let go, Castiel went and hugged Sam. "Goodbye, Sam."

"Bye, Cas. Keep an eye on my brother for me," Sam requested.

"Of course," Castiel said before pulling away. He then looked over to Lucifer and Jack. The latter was seated in an infant car seat on the table. "May I hold him."

"Yes, of course," Lucifer said.

Castiel reached down and unbuckled Jack before pulling the boy into his arms. He held him a bit awkwardly. This wasn't the first time he held a baby, but he wasn't very used to it either. "When your mother asked me to look after you, I didn't think it would turn out like this. I don't know how I thought it would turn out, but watching you leave with Lucifer wasn't something I could fathom. Of course, I didn't really know Lucifer. Now I do, and I know that he will take good care of you. I'm no expert on fathers, but I've seen enough to know that he loves you. He can give you the life your mother wanted."

Jack's only response was to stick a stuffed ball into his mouth.

"I will miss you, Jack," Castiel said.

"You are welcome to come see him," Lucifer said before turning to Dean and Mary. "All of you are." He still didn't like Dean very much, but he'd been less of a ponce lately, and he was good with Jack.

Dean nodded before holding out his arms towards Cas and Jack. "Alright, give me him, Cas."

Castiel carefully transferred Jack to Dean's arms.

Dean brought the baby to his chest. "Hey, man. You and I got off to a rocky start. I didn't treat you right. I was angry about things that had nothing to do with you, and I blamed you for them. What's worse is that I never told you I was sorry. Telling you now won't be much help because you can't understand me, but it's the best I can do. I'm sorry, kid. You're gonna do good in this world one day. I'm gonna miss having you around this place."

Mary rubbed the baby's back. "Bye, Sweetheart."

Dean put the baby back in the car seat and buckled him in.

Lucifer picked up the infant seat with his son in it and turned to Michael. "You're coming, right? I'm, assuming you no longer have any interest in returning to Heaven."

"Not with _him_ there," Michael said. He had originally planned to return to Heaven, which was what he told his brother when he asked him to come live with him a few weeks ago. He didn't really want to return to Heaven. Things were still overwhelming for him, and he was afraid of losing himself again and causing harm to his siblings. But there weren't enough angels to keep Heaven running for much longer. It was necessary for him to return. However, that changed when his father made his intentions to return home clear. He wasn't needed anymore, and he would not go with his father there. "Are you sure you want me to live with you?"

"I wouldn't have asked you if I wasn't," Lucifer said.

Michael nodded.

Just then, Amenadiel returned. "Alright. All of Jack's things are settled in the penthouse. Is everybody ready?"

They all nodded.

Amenadiel looked at his twin. You'll take Luci and the baby, okay? I'll take Maze, and Gabriel will naturally transport Sam."

"Yes. Although, no one would have to take our brother if he hadn't cut off his wings in a giant temper tantrum," Michael said as he gave his younger brother a disgruntled look. He had been less than thrilled when he learned that the younger archangel had cut off his wings. He probably lectured him about it for close to an hour.

"It wasn't a temper tantrum. I was making a point," Lucifer argued.

"I point through self-mutilation?" Michael asked irritably. He hated his father too, but he really saw no point in his brother cutting his wings off as some sort of protest. It wasn't like the old man even cared.

"No, not self=mutilation. Maze did the mutilating," Lucifer corrected, as though it made all the difference in the world.

"You ordered me to," Maze said with a glare.

"Yes, but you did it, which means it wasn't self-mutilation. Anyway, shall we go?" Lucifer asked.

Sam grabbed his bag from the floor and looked at his family one more time before taking Gabriel's hand. Before he knew it, he was being teleported away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Chloe Decker was in the elevator on her way to Lucifer's penthouse. She'd received a message from him

that he'd finally returned. She'd honestly given up hope that he was even coming back. It had been over four months since he'd left town. She was beginning to think she'd never see her partner again, and given what he told her before he left, she feared that if she did see him again, it would be in a jailcell. Needless to say, she was shocked when she got his message.

When the doors to the elevator opened, Chloe stepped out. She expected to see Lucifer, and maybe Maze, but what she saw was three men she'd never seen before. "Uh, hi. I'm looking for Lucifer."

A short man with dark hair approached her. "Hi, you must be Detective Decker. I'm Gabriel. That's Michael and that's my boyfriend, Sam. "Mike and I are Lucifer's brothers."

Chloe shook his hand. "Damn, how many brothers does he have?"

"Not as many as there used to be, but there are still a few of us," Michael said.

Chloe looked around the penthouse. There was a blue playpen by the couch, which was shocking because Lucifer wasn't a kid person. If one of his brother's had a kid, he was probably not enjoying the visit too much. "One of you has a baby?"

Just then, a cry came over the baby monitor sitting on the coffee table. Lucifer's voice was heard over it soon enough. "Yes, yes. Calm down. Daddy's here."

Chloe could swear he jaw must have literally dropped to the floor after hearing her partner's words. That and she felt she must be having a really vivid dream because she knew there was no way Lucifer just acknowledged to being someone's daddy.

Without even realizing that her legs were moving, Chloe found herself walking through the penthouse. She made her way into Lucifer's bedroom, where she found him holding and bouncing a fussy baby.

"You know, you should be sleeping. I heard babies are supposed to sleep a lot," Lucifer said as he held the boy.

"That's a myth," Chloe joked, without even realizing she was speaking until the words were out.

Lucifer turned around in surprise. "Detective, I didn't expect you tonight. I figured I might see you in the morning."

"I came as soon as I got your message. Trixie's with Dan tonight, so it was easy to make it over here," Chloe said as she continued to stare at her partner in shock.

"Ah, so Detective Douche is out of jail," Lucifer commented.

"Yeah. You have a baby?" Chloe asked.

"Yes. This is Jack," Lucifer said before shifting Jack in his arms so that he was facing the detective.

Chloe walked over to them. "How did this happen? Well, I know how, but you were only gone a few months."

"Yes, Jack had already been born by then," Lucifer said.

"Right. I suppose it's not hard to imagine that some fling of yours would turn up with your kid. You do have quite a lot of flings," Chloe said. Honestly, it shouldn't surprise her that this happened. Lucifer was not exactly shy about his nightly sexual exploits. It should probably be more surprising that it didn't happen sooner.

"Well, yes, but that has nothing to do with Jack," Lucifer said.

Chloe didn't even really hear what he was saying. She was still getting over the shock of seeing her partner with a baby. "You've clearly had an eventful few months. If you don't mind me asking, where's his mother?"

"She died in childbirth," Lucifer said.

"Oh, that's awful. I'm so sorry," Chloe said.

"Well, I didn't know her," Lucifer said. He did feel bad because he knew Jack grieved his mother, but he'd never even met the woman. He knew nothing about her, other than that she loved Jack. "She sacrificed her life for Jack though. She knew giving birth to him would kill her, but she chose to anyway."

"Yeah, I can understand that. I would've done the same for Trixie," Chloe said.

Jack started to cry again.

Lucifer sighed. "You're just not going to sleep for me, are you?"

Chloe smiled. "Get used to it. They can be hard to get to sleep at times when they're this young."

"Yes, I've already noticed," Lucifer said as he began to giggle the baby a little.

Chloe reached into the crib and pulled out a blue and white pacifier. She immediately held it out for the baby. "Try this."

Jack opened his mouth and accepted it. He quieted down immediately.

"Thank you," Lucifer said.

"You might not want to get him used to it whenever he's fussing though. It could prove difficult to get him off of it when he's older. Using it to get him to sleep once and awhile should be fine though," Chloe said.

Lucifer gently placed Jack back in the crib. He breathed a sigh of relief when Jack didn't start to fuss again.

"So, you made it back, and with a baby too. I'm not visiting you in jail, so I hope it means you didn't kill anyone," Chloe said.

"No, I assure you, I didn't kill a single person," Lucifer said honestly. Neither that creation of his, nor the alternate version of Michael could be considered a person.

"Good. What about the brother you said was murdered?" Chloe asked.

"Oh, I was wrong about that. My brother's still alive. In fact, I'm certain you met him on your way in here," Lucifer said.

"Yeah, I met a couple of them. They seem nice. They staying with you?"

"Yes, though I'm going to have to get a bigger place, as we can't all fit here. I'll be looking at some places starting tomorrow," Lucifer told her.

"Let me know if you need some help. I've got tomorrow off," Chloe said.

"I may take you up on that," Lucifer said with a smile.

"I should go. I'm glad you're back, Lucifer. I was worried about you. I must have bugged your shrink countless times to get her to tell me if she'd heard from you. She never budged," Chloe said.

Lucifer chuckled. "Yes, Linda takes her confidentiality vow very seriously. I apologize for worrying you, Detective. Don't worry, I won't be going anywhere now."

"Good. Oh, before I go, there's a woman that has been looking for you," Chloe said.

"There usually is," Lucifer said with a smirk.

Chloe rolled his eyes. Even with a baby, Lucifer was still Lucifer. "Her name is Charlotte Richards."

Lucifer frowned as he searched his brain to no avail for the memory of such a woman. "I've never met anyone with that name."

"Well, she seems very clear that she knows you. She's a lawyer, if that helps," Chloe said.

"It doesn't. It's not that important. I'm sure I'll learn what she wants eventually," Lucifer said.

"I'm sure. I'll see you later," Chloe said before peering into the crib and smiling at her partner's son. "Bye, little one."

"Bye, Detective. I look forward to things getting back to normal," Lucifer said.

"Me too," Chloe said honestly before heading out of the room.

Lucifer smiled. Oh, yes, he was looking forward to resuming his life and partnership now that he was back home. It would certainly be different with a baby added to his life, but he was certain it would be no less exciting.

THE END

 **A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed this story. There will be a sequel sometime in the future.**


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